


Umber Games

by Alex_J_Mulush



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Fighting Rings, I'm bad at tags, Kinda Drama-y, Kinda like Hunger Games, M/M, Multi, Rated for Violence and adult situations., Ugh, Updates on Mondays and Thursdays (Possibly Saturdays), Violence, but really not, just read the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-02-06 09:29:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 73,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1853077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alex_J_Mulush/pseuds/Alex_J_Mulush
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ray has always thought himself as 'different.' unique. <br/>one day he found out that his equals could be found right under his nose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written in the early hours after finals

Ray leaned against the wall, watching his breath turn to fog under the building lights. He turned quickly and began up the stairs, pulling on black leather gloves. No guts, no glory; he had to move fast. Quickly ascending to the third floor, the boy pulled his messenger bag close to him. He saw the door, J68, and his heart seemed to still.

Maybe he should wait a few more days, tell the boss that they were home and stall. That thought was quickly banished when the images of the boss sicking his henchmen on him again popped into his head, making him shudder. Those men are twice his size, no way he could take another beating from them. He rubbed the scar through his shirt. There was no time for thinking, he had to do this.

He quickly shuffled to the door, gently pressing his ear against it, he didn't hear anything. Ray crouched down and pulled out two lock picks from the clasp in his long sleeve black shirt, gently sliding them in and jiggling them into place. After a few tries the lock gave a triumphant 'click.' Ray mently praised himself as he carefully twisted the knob and opened the door just enough to get his slender frame through. Once inside, he moved silently across the entry way and into the living room. 

It had a TV stand that held a flat screen. A rather big rug covered the carpet with a huge couch on it that bent in like a square. Ray tore his eyes away from the nice furniture and looked around some more. Upon stepping further into the room he spied a hallway to his left, no doubt leading into the bedroom. He kept close to the wall as he quickly got down the hall and through the door. The bedroom was very spacious, two king size beds faced echother on oppisit walls.  the one on the left had a semi thin metal slab with a red 'L' engraved into it, while the right had a wood one that sported a blue 'G'. 

Ray suddenly felt a ping of guilt, was this a family? He had been watching this place for a couple weeks, but all he ever saw coming or going were adults. He bit his lip, thinking hard. guilt ridden or not, he couldn't afford to show up empty handed. So he quickly checked both dressers next to the beds, then the night stands. Picking up an Ipod there and a nice Watch here, throwing them into his bag, he went into the next room, the bathroom, and found more watches and an IPad. Back into the bedroom and under the bed, three laptops and their extra batteries. 

Done with that room and satisfied with his findings, he slipped back into the living room. He sneaked into the kitchen, snatching a few top grade cooking knives, clearing out that space of goods as well and back into the living room once more. He was in the middle of debating if he had time to call for help with  moving the TV when something moved on the couch.

Ray froze instantly, praying that anyone listening that it was just an oversized, lazy dog. The figure on the couch rid itself of the blanket it had been lazing under and sat up.

It was a boy, his red curles in a mess as he ran his hands through it. He rubbed his eyes and spoke softly. "Ryan?...Gavin? That you?"

 

Ray knew he had mere seconds before the curly haired boy's eyes caught sight of him, so he ran. Well...he would have ran, if he wasn't so fucking clumsy. Instead he managed to trip over his own shoe laces and fall flat on his face, banging his forhead on the carpet and letting out a yelp of pain. The one time he didn't wear his damn slip ons. 

 

The red head jumped slightly and looked over the couch. "Who the fuck are you?!" He snapped, getting to his feet. Ray jumped up, bolting for the door, if he could Just get to that damn door! 

 

Ray was fast, but this boy was a bit faster. He grabbed ahold of his hand, only managing to rip one of his gloves off, he reached again and got hold of his arm before he even set foot in the entry way, pulling him back and spinning him around. "Get the FUCK back here!"

 

"Get off me!" Ray growled. not thinking, he grabbed the boy's wrist, holding it tightly. The boy let a blood curdling scream as Ray's hand began to sear his flesh, spreading immense pain through his whole body. He recoiled and cradled his hand to his chest, letting out a quick sob of pain. 

Ray's eyes went wide, quickly reconciling his own hand. "I-m sorry!"

He quickly regretted not running when the boy jumped on him, slamming him back onto the ground, delivering a swift blow to his jaw. The room spun as he tried to push the boy off, failing miserably. A mixture of the blow to his head and losing some blood making it hard to think straight.

 

Another swift punch to the temple and Ray's vision slowly faded to black.

 

 

 

 

** XxXxXxXx68INDESTRIESXxXxXxXx **

 

 

  


	2. Waking Up

Ray groaned as a dull throb claimed the right side of his jaw. It took him a few seconds to remember what had happened. Breaking into the apartment he had been staking out for the past 3 weeks, robbing the place clean, being stopped by that red head...Fuck; he burned him didn't he? Then he got cold clocked...then...then what?

He felt a hand on him, warm and soft. It traced light circles on his shoulder before it moved to the hem of his shirt and yanked it up and off of him.

"My God!" A voice squeaked, accent very apparent.

Ray's eyes shot open to see a sandy haired boy, clutching Ray's blood stained shirt to his chest with one hand and the other clasped over his mouth. Green eyes wide as they locked onto his deep brown ones.

"HE'S AWAKE!"  
The British boy yelled and flashed out of the room. "HEY, HE'S UP!!" His voice sounded off a second later from the other room.

Ray's mind didn't have time to register where he was before the boy came crashing back on top of him, faces inches apart. The boy's face reddened as he scrambled off Ray, muttering an apology. Ray couldn't do anything but sit up and back up to the head bored as four other men flooded the room. surrounding the bed.

"Uuuh....Hi." Ray gulped, trying desperately to get their eyes anywhere but on him.

  
"I still say we kill him." A man with tattooed arms stepped forward, Eyes ablaze.

"Geoff, we can't do that, it's rude." The brunette to his right looked over Ray with half lidded, Safire eyes that seemed to hold him in place.

"And why not Ryan? He's just a little fucking gutter runt." The man, Geoff, retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Look at these scars!" The Brit piped, leaning and pointing to the biggest one that ran from just under his right nipple to his belly button. "The poor bastard probably had to steal just to get by!"

Ray's cheeks tinted pink when all the eyes traveled to his pale chest, which bared two or three scars that hadn't of healed as fast as the rest. Geoff's face softened slightly for an instant before it changed back.

"For once, I agree with Gavin." The man farthest to the right with the beard leaned against the bed post and kept his eyes on Geoff. "Does this kid look like he's the type for armed robbery?"

Ray's eyes shifted between the arguing men, breath hitching as he saw another body move through the door. Auburn hair that belonged none other to the boy he had seen on the couch. His pale skin highlighted the freckles on his round face and he was now wearing glasses with light brown eyes that looked over the scene. Guilt gripped Ray's heart as he saw the ring of red skin on his right wrist, which the boy now clutched to his chest as his eyes met Ray's.

"I don't care if this kid is on the top of the fucking bill board charts! He stole from us!" Geoff pointed out  
   
"Because he probably had to!" Gavin interjected.

" He **BURNED** Michael!" Geoff =snarled.

"I DIDN'T MEAN TO!" Ray finally yelled, looking between the others. "Please, I don't want to rob you, I didn't want to hurt anyone!"  
He couldn't control what he was saying. "If I come back empty handed again, he's going to kill me!-"

  
"Who's going to kill you?" The freckled boy asked from across the room, his voice quiet but demanding.

"My boss, he...he..." Ray's eyes brimmed with tears as all those terrible memories of use and abuse came flooding back. Great, he was going to die looking like a pussy.

"Playing the fucking _pity me_ card? That's it, he's dead." Geoff moved forward, but Ryan grabbed his arm and yanked him back, sporting a challenging stare.

"Please no, we can't afford new sheets. Anyway, he looks too innocent to come here of free will." He tried to reason. Geoff backed up slightly before straightening himself.

" _This_." Geoff leaned over and grabbed Michael's wrist just under his burn and held it up. "Is NOT innocent." Michael yanked his wrist back, wincing as his burned skin made contact with Geoff's.

"Listen. Yes, he bruned me and yes, it **FUCKING** hurt!" Michael threw his hands towards Ray, looking to him. "But no one with any damn brains would choose to try and help me if he could have ran, and he sure as hell wouldn't have chosen the words 'I'm sorry.' to utter as I pounded his fucking face into the tile floor."

Geoff looked the boy over and then dragged his eyes back to Michael, who was glaring up at him. Geoff opened his mouth to protest, but lacked the words for defense. He let out a sigh of defeat and looked over at Ryan. "See what you can do for that fuck's wounds, we'll just have to bring him to Gus tomorrow."

Michael's face brightened slightly as Geoff turned his attention to Gavin. "Gavin, as weird as I feel saying this to you, I want you and Michael to make sure he doesn't try and escape. Me and Jack are going to see if we can get ahold of Joel."

Jack moved from his leaning place on the bed post and clasped a hand on Geoff's shoulder. "I'll buy you a Rum and Coke while we're out."

Geoff cracked a small smile and leaned into Jack's touch. "You're a fucking angel."

Geoff told Ryan to call him if there was a problem and Jack told Gavin not to break him, and they left.

There were a few seconds of silence, everyone just looked at each other.

Gavin was the first to speak up. "I know this is probably really weird, but I think Geoff likes you." He smiled slightly. Ryan chuckled and walked across the room to the 'G' side, digging through the dresser drawers.

"Well, he's not dead. So I guess that's a step in the right direction." All the boy's chuckled, all except for Ray.

"So..." Michael leaned against the wall, looking at the younger boy. "Got a name?"

It took Ray a moment to realize that he was talking to him. "Y-yeah, I'm Ray. "

Michael smiled slightly and nodded. "Name's Michael, That's Gavin." He pointed to the sandy haired British boy, who smiled and waved. "And Ryan." The older male gave a warm smile as he returned to the bed with a first aid kit. "The two dickheads who just left were Geoff and Jack."

"Nice little family you got here." Ray joked, Michael shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, I thought we would of all killed each other by now."

"Ray." Ryan prompted, gesturing towards the med kit in his hands. "Hate to intrude on your conversation, but you do still have some pretty big wounds I should attend to."

Ray cocked an eyebrow and then remembered that he had indeed been beaten to a pulp after falling flat on his face like a fucking moron. He nodded and Ryan had him lay down with three pillows to prop him up. The brunette grabbed the desk chair and pulled it next to the bed before sitting down and turning on the lamp.

"Not that I'm c-complaining." Ray stuttered on the last word due to Ryan pulling out a decent sized needle and thread. "But I just fucking broke into your house and burned someone..why are you helping me?"

"Because, if you haven't noticed, we're not that different." Michael kicked off the wall and walked to the bed, getting a closer look at the deep gash on Ray's head. He felt guilt swell up in his chest. That wouldn't be an open wound if it wasn't for him.

"Yeah, I figured that out from zippy over there." He pointed vaguely to Gavin, who mumbled something about putting Ray's shirt in the wash and vanished. Ryan smiled as he threaded the needle. "Might want to hold on to something."

Ray nodded and gripped the headboard behind him. "But that still doesn't _SHIT-!"_ Ray swallowed a cry of pain as the needle pushed into his skin.  "T-that still doesn't answer my question." He looked up at Michael and bit his lip.

"What he means is you could help us out." Ryan nodded as he worked. "Right now it's eat or be eaten for people like us..but Gus will tell you all about that tomorrow."

Ray's eyes widened and he tensed. What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Well, he wasn't about to argue with the guy running a needle through his forehead. Ryan finished and cut the string (fucking FINALLY) tying it off. He moved to treat the smaller cut on his jaw. It didn't need stitches, but it defiantly had to be cleaned.

"Hey, Michael!" Gavin ran into the door frame at normal pace this time. "Can he be a Lad?"

"Gavin, we don't even-"

"Pleeease! I'm tired of always being outnumbered by the Gents on everything!" Gavin whined, Ryan suppressed a chuckle.

"Fine, since his body fluids are already all over our fucking sheets. Blood in Blood out and all that shit." Michael couldn't hold back his smile when Gavin zipped over and hugged him, whooping in joy.

"Yes! No more Hawaiian pizza! Suck a knob Ryan!"

Ryan finished cleaning his cuts and got up. "Alright, that should hold you up for a bit."

He patted Ray's knee and kicked the chair back to it's desk and put the first aid away. "I am going to go make something to eat, Try not to break him again Michael." He smiled and sneaked a kiss on the cheek as he left.

Michael blushed slightly and wiped it off of his cheeks.

"You need to get the rest of that blood off you." Gavin smiled. "Do you need help getting up?"

"No, I think I'm okay." Ray swung his legs of the bed and got up in one swift motion. He took a step and immediately his knees buckled, legs turning to jelly as he flailed his hands out to try and stop him. In a green flash Gavin was on him, keeping him up.

"Alright...less okay." Michael kicked the bathroom door open before running over to help keep Ray up. They helped Ray into the bathroom, which looked a lot more organized then when he had first seen it.

"Do you think you can shower without busting your ass?" Michael and Gavin slowly withdrew from Ray, making sure he could stand on his own. "Yeah, I'll be fine." Ray flashed the other Lads a reassuring smile. The two nodded and left him to shower.

Ray took a deep breath and rid himself of the rest of his clothes, turning on the shower and keeping his hand under the water to test it's temperature. When it felt warm enough he stepped in and let the warmth relax his muscles.

This was _so weird_...

 

**XxXxXxXx68INDESTRIESXxXxXxXx**

"Those fit okay?" Gavin asked.

Ray stretched and looked himself over. The dark grey T-Shirt did ride up a little, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. His flannel bottoms fit loosely around his waist, showing off some more of his pale skin. "Yeah, thanks."

Ryan yawned from the Gent's bed and closed his laptop, sliding it off of his lap and stretching his hands behind his head. "I don't think Jack and Geoff are going to be home anytime soon, so I am going to quit waiting up and go to bed."

Michael put down his DS and snuggled down into the Lad's bed. "Sound's like a plan."

  
"You can sleep with us tonight, Ray." Gavin smiled, patting the middle of the bed.

Ray's cheeks tinted pink as he crawled onto the bed and slipped under the sheets. "Uhh, Thanks."

Gavin slipped into bed next to him, turning off the lamp. "Night everyone."

The rest of the boys muttered their goodnights and Ryan turned off the other lamp. Ray adjusted to the darkness and took in all of his senses. The feel of the freshly washed sheets on his skin, the sound of everyone's breathing as they all evened out into sleep. The smell that he couldn't understand but knew could only be found in this place. He closed his eyes and let his head sink into the cool pillow. This was nice, He wasn't used to having a soft bed and people to keep him warm at night.

 

 

He liked not having to warm himself for once....


	3. No Port Keys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A normal morning with a freaky twist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said only Mondays and Thursdays (Possibly Saturdays?) but right now I am on a writing roll!  
> So enjoy my sleep deprived chapters!

Gavin grumbled as he was pulled abruptly from his sleep by the alarm. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, pounding down the stop button. "It's time to get up!" The Brit groaned and fell back onto the two other sleeping boys. Ray and Michael both grunted with dissatisfaction.

"Did I ever tell you guys how much I hate mornings?" Geoff said in a groggy tone as he swung his feet over the side of the bed and looked at the clock, 4 fucking AM.

"Every morning." Ryan replied as he propped himself on his elbows.

Ray yawned and arched his back of the bed, stretched, and fell back onto the bed. He froze as he felt a arm tighten around his waist. He looked over at Michael, who was still sleeping, his mouth parted slightly as he admitted soft snores. Ray smiled softly and put his arm over Michael's, feeling his soft skin. "Hey, octopus, are you going to get up today?"

Michael's eyes slowly slid open. "What?..-Oh, uh, sorry." His cheeks burned as he tried to pull his arm away.

Ray chuckled and gently squeezed his hand, warming it a bit before letting it slip away. "Dude, you don't have to apologize to me, I broke into your fucking house last night ."

Michael smiled as he got out of bed, watching Ray slide out on Gavin's side. "Oh yeah, you fuck!"

"Guys, hurry up!" Gavin yelled from the other room. "Breakfast is ready!"

"He needs to slow the fuck down." Geoff griped as he slid on a dark green shirt. "For someone like him?" Jack looked up from buckling his belt. "I don't think that's possible."

Everyone chuckled and continued the idol conversation as they got dressed and ready for the day. Michael let Ray borrow some clothes that consisted of a pair of jeans and a red T-shirt.

They all shuffled through the living room and into the kitchen. Gavin was sitting at the table, sipping at some tea and fiddling with a mystery novel he had been reading in the mornings while he waited for everyone else.

"I made bacon, eggs, pancakes, and toast. Jelly's on the counter and coffee should be done in a few." His eyes didn't move from the book as Ryan, Michael, and Geoff filed by with a quick 'thanks'. Ray was far enough behind to catch Jack leaning down and giving Gavin a quick peck on the forehead, mumbling. "You're the best."

Before going to wade in on the feast. Gavin smiled and marked the page he was on, setting the book down. "I've already eaten, so take as much as you want." Ray mirrored his smile and thanked him, going to get what he wanted.  
  
Everyone filled up their plates and sat down at the table, digging in.

"Oh my god." Michael said through a mouth full of pancake "Gavin, you need to cook, like, every morning. Forever."

Geoff nodded in agreement, half a strip of bacon hanging out of his mouth. "Yeah, this breakfast is as good as dicks!"

Everyone laughed. "I'm glad you all like it." He smiled, looking to Ray, who stared down at his food with a soft smile. "How's your food, Ray?"

Ray looked up from his food, a little bit of egg on his chin. "It's awesome! I haven't had a home cooked meal in a really long time, I had almost forgotten how nice it was." He smiled awkwardly.

Silence...Gavin bit his lip and that gave away to a smile. he leaned forward. "Well, between you and me, there's a lot more where that came from." All the other boys at the table hooped and hollered in joy. Kick ass breakfast forever! The rest of the meal was quiet besides the noises of glasses and silver wear clanking against plates. One by one everyone leaned back and surrendered to their full stomachs, getting up and putting the dishes in the sink.

"How much time do we have left?" Jack asked to no one in particular. "About 10 minutes." Michael answered from his spot lazing on the couch, his head on Geoff's lap.

Everyone relaxed and didn't speak. They knew that with the day they had ahead of them, there will be no time to do it for a while. This gave Ray some time to think. His boss must have noticed that he hadn't come back by now. Would he send people to look for him?...Would he even care? And what about this shit he's gotten himself into, are these people really going to let him off the hook after he ransacked their house and burned someone?  
On the other hand, Ray didn't think they would patch up his wounds, give him clothes, and feed him if they were just going to kill him...who were these people? Why the hell are they all living together in a one bedroom apartment? Where they couples? Jack did snuggle up to Geoff last night, and Ryan kissed Michael on the cheek for no real reason...but then why would Jack kiss Gavin on the forehead? And Michael is cuddled up pretty close to Geoff on the couch...

 This is all confusing as hell.

He shook his head and looked around, everyone was getting up and getting their shoes on. "Come on, Ray. Time to see if you pass judgment day." Ryan snickered.

Ray visibly swallowed as he was pushed out the door.

 

_**XxXxXxXx68INDESTRIESXxXxXxXx** _

 

Gavin shivered and zipped up his creeper hoodie. The underground metro was always a cold place, especially when the sun wasn't up.

Ryan glanced down at his watch as they walked through the dimly lit tunnel. "4:45AM, made it with five minutes to spare."

"Oh god dammit." Michael groaned, leaning back on his heels and shoving his hands in his pockets. "There's never anything to do down here."

The group slowed it's pace as they made thier way towards thier gate.

"This place always gives me the creeps." Gavin looked up at the metro's schedule board as they walked passed, moving closer to Jack. 

"I didn't even know the trains ran this early." Ray looked ahead to the main tunnel. It was empty besides a few people that leaned against the pillars in a sleepish daze. The boys chuckled as they flooded the main tunnel, but Ray didn't understand why what he said was funny. They sat down at the benches that were placed in front of the tracks. The main tunnel was barely lit by yellow lights, with a distant sound of dripping water. Each direction of the tracks stretched into a dark, endless tunnel.

They could all see why Gavin was freaked out in this place, it gave off that kind of feel that you could be jumped at any moment...it put everyone on edge.

"Big day today." Geoff said, almost as if he had just remembered it. Everyone seemed to perk up at that statement.

"Holy shit, I almost forgot." Michael chuckled nervously.

"We'll be fine." Jack assured. "We've put a lot of training into this."

  
"Yeah, all the training we could jam into a week and a half." Gavin said saracastically. "Do you think they'll let Ray on our team?"

"Wait, what team?-" "I think so, Gus submits the team profiles and fits us for our suits today, so I don't see how they would know he _wasn't_ on the team before." Ryan's eyes met the ceiling as he thought. "Plus he told us we would need all the help we could get."

"What te-" "We need an elemental anyway."

"What-" The main tunnel roared to life as the train rolled into the station, blaring it's horn to signal it's arrival.

Ray huffed and gave up trying to ask questions.

The sleep ridden people stumbled onto the train, yawning and sipping cheap coffee. Ray tried to get up to join them, but Ryan put a hand on his chest to keep him seated. "We take the next train."

Ray looked up at him, confused. "This is the only train scheduled for this time."

Geoff smirked as the tram's doors closed and it began it's slow start up back to life. "Exactly."

Ray looked back and watched the train's carts wizz by as it left the station. Seconds of silence ticked by and they were all quiet, everyone's eyes on the tracks. The only sound was that damned dripping water sound that was driving Jack crazy. ( _I'll fix that damned pipe myself if I don't have to hear it leak anymore_!)

"...Is something supposed to happen now?" Ray raised any eyebrow at the empty tunnel.

"No" Ryan let his hand drop, getting to his feet. "I just wanted to fuck with you."

"Good." Michael got up, dusting off his jeans. "Because I was fucking confused."

Walking towards the tracks, everyone rebuckled their buckles and tightened their laces.

"Tighten the belt on your jeans or you're gonna loose them." Geoff advised. Ray tightened his belt.

"Wasn't that the last train for a while?" He asked, happy when he wasn't interrupted by anything. Michael nodded.

"It's time for Umber 101. Where we 'work' is six hundred and eighty feet under us." Michael pointed towards the floor, smiling at Ray's confused look. "Most people get there by using a 'port key'. But we don't need one, we have a Ryan." He pointed to Ryan, who waved. "Hi."

Ray just nodded, mostly because he didn't know what else to say.

Ryan walked casually to the edge and leaned over, flicking his wrist at the ground. Ray watched in amazement as what appeared to be a small bolt of lightning shot from his hand to the ground. The concrete seemed to ripple open into a pit of darkness with nothing but a purple ring to outline it.

"I'm pretty sure I got one over the pit, then it leads to the tunnel." Ryan said over his shoulder.

"Can I go first!?" Gavin yelled, almost bouncing up and down.

"Have at it." Ryan replied and stepped to the side just in time to miss getting hit by Gavin as he jumped forward into the pit. He had disappeared into the hole, but Ray still heard him yelling. "WHOO-HOO!!!"

Ray was at a loss of words.

"Awesome, you did get the pit." Geoff smiled, walking up to the edge and turning around. "Fucking finally." He leaned back, falling into the darkness.

Jack followed by just hopping in.

Michael leaped forward into a swan dive.  
  
Soon all that was left was Ray and Ryan.

"Alright Ray." Ryan clasped his shoulder, chuckling as Ray flinched and backed up. "Hop in."  
  
"W-where did they go?" Ray fumbled over the question, looking up at Ryan. The older man smiled sinisterly and traced his hand to Ray's back.  
"Down." And with that, Ryan pushed Ray forward and over.  
  
Ray screamed as he fell into the darkness.  
  
falling

All he could feel, was the sensation of falling.

 


	4. Testing, Fitting, And Readying Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to prepare for the first match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so late but it's STILL THURSDAY, AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
> 
> Mostly just setting things up for the first match
> 
> I stayed up very late working on it, so please don't kill me over the grammar and spelling. I PROMISE TO FIX THEM AFTER A NAP!!!
> 
> THANKS, LOVE YOU ALL, BYYYEEEE!!~ ;3

Ray opened his eyes and forced his senses to return.

  
He could feel the cold wind whipping his skin as he plunged forward, hear it buzzing past his ears. Smells of water, salt, sulfur, limestone. It all flooded his nose. He stretched his arms and legs out as far as he could, but nothing so much as skimmed his fingers.

His heart raced, he didn't know which way is up. He forced all his energy to his palms and set them alight. He could make out the uneven, glistening walls of what seemed to be a cave.  
  
His stomach turned and as he suddenly felt gravity shift.

Lights blinded him as bumpy cave walls turned to a smooth metal surface and suddenly he was running, bounding down a long tunnel towards the guys he had seen jump into the abyss.

Gavin caught him, Ray thanked him and turned around just to see Ryan run through the portal. It shut behind him with a loud "CRACK".  
  
"Aww, thought you would have screamed more." Ryan huffed and put his hands on his knees.

"You pushed me you fucking dick!" Ray exploded, glaring at him.  
  
"Don't take it personally, he did the same thing to me when I had second thoughts about jumping." Jack crossed his arms. Ryan just rolled his eyes and rebuckled his belt. Everyone else fixed their clothes and recovered from the free fall.

"So that was..." Ray forced even breaths, loosening his shoe laces. "That's the pit?"

"Yes." Ryan said, stretching. "Well, part of it."

"What is the pit, anyway?" Ray asked.

"The pit is basically a long cave system that runs throughout the facility. It's meant to train those who have the ability to fly, but sometimes they block it off for team stealth elimination missions." Geoff walked to the end of the tunnel and started punching a code into the light up pad next to the big metal doors.

"Since the teams haven't all been locked into the  Under Circuit no one is allowed down here yet." Michael chuckled.

Gavin leaned against his shoulder and grinned. "But we don't like rules."

  
"They have a instrument that emits a certain kind of EMP pulse that throws off my aim." Ryan said. "So where which part of the pit we end up in is always been a little shaky, as well as where the end portal is." He rubbed the back of his neck with a smile.

Jack rolled his eyes and grabbed Ryan and Ray's hands, pulling them towards the now open doors.

"Ryan, we can talk about your performance issues later." Ray looked down at his hand that was intertwined with Jack's...his skin was surprisingly cool and soft, like the smooth petals of a flower...

They moved through the door and the hallway opened up. Hundreds of people made their way in one direction, cheering and talking in a overall mood that sparked anticipation and anxiety. They waded into the crowd and followed them into the main building. Made entirely out of polished marble, the walls stretched high to a glass ceiling that showed another part of the cave system. The room was lit by something Ray couldn't see. In the middle stood a huge statue that depicted three men standing as a team.

The one to the left had a sword, which glowed gold, at the ready. The one to the right had an open book in their hand, his eyes looking out with a blue glow. The last one in the middle had outstretched hands, that shot white electricity to the glass. Ray stared in awe as Jack pulled him along through the crowd, steering through all the people as they made their to the hall straight ahead which had intricate patterns weaved around it like golden and copper snakes.

  
The large crowd thinned out as people turned left and right into different hallways. Jack let Ray's hand go when he thought the boy could follow them without being pushed around by the crowd. Ray sighed at the loss. "Is there that many people here every day?"  
  
"No, today's the tournament, so a lot of people are coming to watch and see who get's put in what class." Geoff answered, looking at the signs on top of the smaller hallways that branched off from the main one. Ray could feel his head begin to spin again. Tournament? Class?

"What are-" "Gus will explain it." Gavin said over his shoulder, nudging Geoff and pointing to a sign that read 'Achievement Hunter.' over the 6th door to the left.  
  
"Achievement Hunter?" Ray said out loud, looking to Geoff.  
  
"Yeah, we play A LOT of video games...so it just kinda fit," He walked to the door and touched it and it illuminated white under his fingers. He pressed his palm into it, flinching as the door disintegrated. They walked in and Ray watched Geoff look at his hand and wipe away a blood circle. "Blood identification, makes sure the other teams can't get in to our Den." He smiled.

Just inside the door the temperature dropped 20 degrees. This dark room was somewhat spacious with a round computer touch table in the far back. in front of it was a couch and a huge TV (At least it looked like it.)  to the right was a small desk with what looked like one of those mirrors with a light that women used to put makeup on. A man with very dark brown eyes and a semi square face sat on the couch with a fold out illuminated glass keyboard, his glasses reflected the screen as he typed away codes. He looked up and his eyes immediately fell on Ray, widening as his fingers stilled.

"Sup Gus?"  
  
"Who the _fuck_ is this guy?"  
  
" I'm Ray." He took it upon himself to say. He stretched out his hand for Gus to shake, but all he got was a practiced glare. 

"Yeah, long story." Geoff chuckled. "This little asshole actually broke into our apartment.-" "GOD DAMMIT Geoff!" Gus interrupted. "I _told_ you not to live in that part of town!-" " **BUT** " Geoff talked over him. "He is an elemental, and it turns out he's harmless."

Ray watched Michael hide his wrist behind his back.

Gus rubbed his temples. Geoff straightened up and cleared his throat. "Gus, you know we need another person or we run the risk of early elimination...You know we need him."  
  
Gus took in a deep breath and exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "...Do you know how much paper work this is going to be?"  
  
"If that's all that stands in our way, then I'm happy to help." Ryan stepped forward, as serious as Ray has seen him look.  
  
"What about training? We don't even have his basic mold." Gus added, scooting over so Ryan could sit next to him.

"We can put him in the enclave chamber now and the results should be out just in time." Jack replied.  
  
"What's that?" Ray whispered to Gavin, who's face froze just before slapping on a weird smile. "It's, uh, It just tests out the limits of your powers."  Ray turned a few shades whiter. Gus leaned back and watched for a few seconds as Ryan pulled up documents and typed in information.  
  
"Fine." He uttered, everyone's faces brightened...everyone's except Ray's.

"Gavin, get him tested. Everyone else get ready for line up and fittings." Geoff, Michael, and Jack exchanged high fives and headed through the door to the left of the desk. Gavin turned around and smiled.

"Follow me." He walked past Ray. Ray took his hand and the Brit flinched, looking back at him. "I don't trust you not to run away." He smiled, Gavin blushed and said nothing, leading him out of the room and back down the hallway into the main room.

 

_**XxXxXxXx68INDESTRIESXxXxXxXx** _

 

The two boys slipped into the room. It was a small hall that led into a big, empty chamber. Ray followed Gavin to a desk that stretched all the way to the chamber door. It was littered with buttons and keys and he didn't even wanted to think if Gavin knew what half of these things did.  
  
"Gavin..?" Ray asked quietly.

Gavin typed in a few things and watched the chamber power up before looking at Ray. "Yeah?"  
  
Ray took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "When I do this, can you do me a favor?"  
  
"Yeah." Gavin looked at him, a bit of concern on his face.  
  
"Don't watch." Ray's eyes traveled to the floor.  
  
Gavin just nodded, gesturing for him to step inside. Ray went into the chamber and stood, looking at Gavin for his next set of directions. The boy put on a headset and pressed a button on the board.  
"I'm starting it in T minus 15...and Ray." His voice bounced through the chamber as it started to buzz, powering to full strength. "Yeah?"  
  
"I'm sorry." Gavin took his finger off the button and looked down, not looking back. Ray tried to think of what he was apologizing for, and settled on the fact that this was probably going to hurt.

And he was never more right.

Ray screamed as his whole body was hit with bolts of unbelievable and immense pain, He squinted through it and saw flames traveling from his hands and up his arms. His knees buckled and he fell onto them, chocking on something that wasn't there. His head felt was seconds away from exploding as flames began covering his whole body. The machine was _forcing_ his powers to amp up.  
His vision blurred and it was all just **PAIN**. His body began pulsating as flames whipped from his body and lashed his walls and the glass. Gavin felt the heat and gasped, backing up and almost falling over. He couldn't do it, he looked up.  
Ray's body was all flames, steam rising from his head. Fear racked his body as he slammed his hand down on the button to stop the machine. Ray's flames slowly extinguished until he could be fully seen curled up on the ground, clothes singed.

Gavin flashed into the room and picked him up. Ray tried his best to stand up and stop shaking. His eyes fought to regain his control over his eyes as tears spilled from them. "It's over, I promise, no more pain." Gavin cooed. "I'm sorry. We all had to do it."  
  
"You looked." Ray choked, looking at him.  
  
"And I'm glad I did." Gavin smiled softly, placing a kiss on his cheek. It was surprisingly cold. "You're incredible."  
  
Ray blushed as he tried to even out his breathing. Gavin held him tightly until he stopped shaking. "Your stats have been sent to Gus, now all we have to do is get you ready for line up and fitting,"  
  
Ray nodded and Gavin led him out and back to the Den.  
  
  
_**XxXxXxXx68INDESTRIESXxXxXxXx**_

 

By the time Gavin and Ray had got back, everyone else was already ready. Dressed in plain white shirts and Black cargo shorts, barefoot. Gus looked at them from where him and Ryan still sat, though Ryan had gotten up to change.

"Your clothes are in the other room. We tweaked Ray's dates back to when you were tested. I also said you were trained in close quarters, hope you can handle that." Ryan smiled.

Gavin giggled and looked at Ray, who ran white again and forced an awkward smile. They went into the other room. It was a basic locker room, but was lined with dark stone instead of metal. Their clothes were laid on the bench at the far end of the room. Gavin and Ray began changing.  
  
"So...everyone had to do that?" Ray asked, trying not to look over the Brit as he ridded himself of his clothes.  
  
"Yeah. That was the only part that really ate nobs." Gavin glanced at the boy's scars as he pulled on his shorts.

"What was it like for you?" Ray inquired, pulling his shirt on.  
  
"Honestly? It scared the absolute hell out of me." Gavin sat down on the bench. "Time slowed down so much at one point I couldn't move anything."  
  
"Wait, _slowed down_? I thought you had super speed?" Gavin looked at him before breaking out in a fit of giggles.

"No, No. I slow down time to get around fast. Stop it if I really have to, otherwise it just drains all my energy." Gavin let out a few more laughs before he suppressed them and went on.  
"I felt just fine at first, time was slow and I just ran around, doing what I always do. Then it just stopped...I thought nothing of it at first, ya know? Figured that soon I'd run out of juice and the world would start spinning again...So I waited...and I waited, but nothing else happened. Eventually I started panicking, I tried opening the door, kicking it in, banging on the glass, and screaming my bloody head off. I knew I couldn't get their attention, but for some reason I still _tried_. I went on for what seemed like hours before I just curled up, crying. I thought I would die before everything started working again." He looked at Ray, who kept his eyes on the floor.  
"When I came back, everyone told me that I started running faster and faster until I _disappeared_! How cool is that!?" He smiled. Ray looked at him and smiled as well. He could find the bright side of everything...it was cute.  
  
"Hey!" They both looked up, Michael was leaning against the door frame, smiling. "Are you two done sucking each other's dicks? It's time for line up!"  
  
Gavin rolled his eyes and flashed out of the room. Ray got to his feet and walked out. "Report back to me right after fitting." Gus ordered, everyone nodded and exited the Den.  
  
"Stay close to me." Michael told him as they half walked half jogged down the corridor. "I'll help you get through this."

 

**XxXxXxXx68INDESTRIESXxXxXxXx**

 

Ryan held the door open as his team entered the testing room. ("It's basically where we come to get yelled at for being here." He mumbled to Ray as they past.) The place was filling up with other teams. People of all shapes, sizes, races...all walks of life gathered in their team groups, looking at the competition, probably trying to gage how they would fair in a fight. Achievement Hunter made it's way to the other side of the huge room and waited for line up.

"Now, when you're in line up." Ryan explained, having to get close do to the growing amount of noise in the room. "Make sure to keep your hands behind your back, left hand holding your right wrist. Keep your feet together and your chest out, and ALWAYS look forward. He's going to ask you your full name, the name of your Den, and your classification. You are, obviously, classified as a elemental."

Ray nodded. "Got it."

Ryan smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "I got faith in you, Ray."

  
Ray smiled at him and assured him he wouldn't let him down. "Hey, Michael-" He was cut off by the sound of what sounded like a dog growling. He whipped around and saw Michael, teeth bared, growling at another team across the room. A red headed girl was making faces at him while whipping water around her arm like a scourge.  
Ray felt wave of anger hit him and he walked up next to Michael. The girl looked at him and smirked. Ray smirked back and held up his hand, lighting the flames with a snap of his fingers and sending it down his arm. The girl's face instantly gave way to a look of surprise and small panic as she turned back to her group, waving her hands to emphasize whatever she was warning them about. By the time they all looked over at them, Michael and Ray were talking in what looked like lazy conversation. Not a flame to be seen.  
  
"Thanks." Michael smiled and rubbed his wrist.  
  
"Anytime, she seems like she's all bark and no bite." Ray remarked, making the other boy laugh.  
  
At that moment, the huge doors next to them flung open, almost knocking the two kids closest to it off their feet.

"ALRIGHT, LINE UP." A voice boomed. Everyone scattered to get into formation. In all the confusion, Michael grabbed Ray's hand and they Ran to get into line. Michael lined up in between Geoff and Jack and Ray ran to line next to Gavin and a boy with an oval shaped face from another team. They were they 4th team down.   
A man, the one who had yelled, began going down the line, asking people the needed information, when they answered, a girl with a nose ring that walked behind the man wrote it down. 

"That's Burnie Burns." Gavin whispered, not letting himself look anywhere but forward. "Him and the bird, Griffon, they run this whole thing." As Burnie and Griffon drew closer Ray adjusted his stance and puffed up his chest. He kept his eyes glued to the wall and listened as they got to his team.  
  
"Name."  
  
"James Ryan Haywood."  
  
"Team."  
  
"Achievement Hunter."  
  
"Classification."

"Energy Manipulation, Gate Creation."  
  
He heard the man draw closer, seeing Gavin stiffen in his peripheral vision.

"Name."  
  
"Geoffrey Lazer Ramsey." 

"Team."  
  
"Achievement Hunter."  
  
"Classification."  
  
"Sensory illusion."  
  
He could barely see the two come into his vision now.  
  
"Name."  
  
"Michael Vincent Jones."  
  
"Team."  
  
"Achievement Hunter."  
("Why do they keep asking the team name?" "Because they don't need anyone sneaking in to another Den's line up, now shut it!")

"Classification."  
  
"Shape Shifter, Animal Kingdom"

Gavin sucked in a breath of air.  
  
"Name."  
  
"Jack Shannon Pattillo."  
  
"Team."  
  
"Achievement Hunter."

"Classification."

"Environmental, Plant Manipulation and Creation."

Ray could see him more clearly in front of Gavin now. He had a long-ish face covered in brown stubble with thick rimmed glasses.

"Name."

"Gavin David Free."

"Team."

"Achievement Hunter." Gavin said it with a bit more enthusiasm then the rest.

"Classification."  
  
"Reality Manipulation, Time."

The man nodded and stepped in front of Ray. He now saw how blue his eyes were as they stared into him. He felt... _intruded_ by the man's gaze.

"Name."  
  
"Ray Narvaez Jr."  
The blonde behind flipped through some papers with a confused look, Ray felt a slight panic run through him. To his relief, her face softened and she began writing.

"Team."

"Achievement Hunter." He was part of a team...it felt so wired to say.

"Classification."  
  
"Elemental, Fire." Ray added, making sure to be specific.  
  
The boy let out a sigh of relief as Burnie walked to the next kid. Kerry Shawcross, Team Ruby, Shadow Manipulation. Gavin smiled and patted his shoulder, Michael flashed him a thumbs up, and the Gents all gave him approving smiles. Ray smiled back at them, returning his gaze back to the wall. If he ever had a doubt of not being one of them, it was gone now. Burnie went all they way down the lines. Checking in all 18 teams.

"ALRIGHT," He yelled, Ray didn't know how he managed to be so _loud_. "TIME TO GET FITTED FOR YOUR SUITS."  
  
"YES SIR." Everyone yelled back. Gavin flashed over to the door clear across the room. "GUYS, WE'RE FIRST!!" Gavin laughed. The rest of the Achievement Hunters laughed and sprinted to the door, everyone else scrambling to get places behind them.

**_XxXxXxXx68INDESTRIESXxXxXxXx_ **

 

The guys made their way into the small chamber, looking around it.

"These suits are like a second skin, they will bend and move as you do."  Griffon shut the door and Burnie powered up the chamber. They all looked down as the floor began to glow in a sea foam green.

"They will also endure the strongest limits of your power, so do not be afraid to go al' out on these things."  Ray felt a strange tickle as his shirt and shorts began to tighten to fit his figure, stretching to glove his hands and morph boots on his feet, He let his hand catch a flame and smiled when the fabric didn't catch.

"You are free to test it out when you get back to your den."

  
Ray took that as a warning and crushed the fire in his palm. The rest of the boys were testing the flexibility, the suits moved and felt like a dream.  
  
"OK, demised." Griffon opened up the door and the team filed out.  
  
  
"Back to your Den!"

 

 


	5. The Under Circuit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first match seems to be truly entertaining....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this at 2:05AM on a Monday. 
> 
> Due to it being so early, I may write another chapter very soon.
> 
> Tried to make it as interesting as I could.
> 
> HOPE YOU LIKE!!!

"Alright." Gus addressed them, standing up from his seat and touching the table, enhancing the image of the map. "For class placement, you will be going up against 3 teams with varying classification majors. The arena is set in a forest like terrain. So Jack, I expect good things from you for this."

Jack nodded with a smile. "Yes sir."  
  
"As for a game plan, I want everyone on the defensive. Geoff, when the match starts I want you to draw them all over to our side of the arena. When everyone is over the line is when Ray comes in." Gus highlighted the line that ran across the octagonal arena pointing to the left side.

  
"Once they are all across the line, all these trees need to be set alight. If they try to flee they'll have no where to hide. Ryan, I want you to stick with him. Make sure he doesn't get eliminated."

Ryan nodded and explained to Ray after seeing him sport a look of confusion. "These three matches are elimination matches. Which means each member of the team gets a handkerchief, and no, I don't know why it's a handkerchief."

  
Ray shut his mouth and put his hand down.

"Anyway, when you cannot continue or feel like your life is in danger, you throw it down and you will be transported back to your Den." Ryan looked at Ray, who nodded. "Got it, continue."

"As I was saying," Gus growled as he glared at the two, making them both shrink into their seats slightly. "Once they are all there, I want Michael, Jack, and Gavin to take them out. Quick, easy, efficient."  
  
"Like my dick," Geoff muttered to Gavin, who clasped his hand over his mouth to stop his laughter. 

Gus chose to ignore the comment.

"And don't forget that these three matches are the sponsor's first chance to get a good look at you, so don't forget that those animal's want to be entertained. I suggest we play along until we are ranked." Everyone nodded, looking the map over again.

That thought hit all of them a bit harder then it should have. People are watching them fight like caged dogs for _entertainment_. They were like pieces on a game board for the rich to bid on. Everyone shook the thought from their head and listened carefully as Gus told them more about their game plan...Everyone except Ray who couldn't help but wonder...  
  
Why would these people do this?  
  
"Calling all teams!" a voice suddenly boomed over them; Griffon's voice.  "All teams, please report to the training rooms."

  
Everyone's heart skipped a beat; time for the first match. "Ok guys. Time to get out there. You've shown excellence in the training room and you are a very united team. I have complete faith in you...and I'm proud of all of you." His last words had the slightest hint of force.

"We won't let you down," Geoff assured, turning to the door. Everyone agreed and followed.

"Don't worry..." Gavin smiled softly, laying a hand on Gus's shoulder. "We'll make Ester proud."

Then Gus did something that Ray thought was impossible...he _smiled_! It was small and genuine and it really did make Ray want to do his best. Gavin turned around and ran to catch up with everyone else, grabbing Ray's arm as he zipped by and practically dragged him out of the Den.

 

**_XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRESXxXxXxXx_ **

 

"There they are!" Ray yelled. Their Den mates where in the same corner that they were before.

"How did you get so far ahead of me!?" Gavin huffed.

"I don't like running." Ryan smirked, a violet bolt slashing across his eyes like fierce lightning. Gavin shivered, he knew Ryan was excited. Ray leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. All he had to do was get rid of their cover; that's it. He was going to be with Ryan the whole time, and if he did it just right he wouldn't even have to _see_ the enemy.

"Feeling nervous?" A voice asked. Ray opened his eyes and saw Jack leaning to his left.

"Now that I think about it, yeah." Ray smiled weakly. Jack looked at Ryan and Ray's eyes followed him. Ryan was talking to Geoff.  "Don't worry. Ryan will look out for you."

  
Ray nodded; Jack patted his head. "And so will we." The boy just rolled his eyes and watched Jack go to join the conversation. He can't be nervous now; he has people depending on him.  
  
"Who do you think we're going up against?" Jack asked, scanning the set of teams.

"They wouldn't pin us against someone too out of our league." Geoff was sure. "...Or would they?"

"LISTEN UP!" A familiar voice shouted over the chatter of all the contenders. It was Burnie accompanied by two heavily armed guards. The whole room was instantly silenced.

"The time is upon us. The first matches will begin in 10 minutes! I expect all of you to be ready, I expect you to preform to your fullest ability, and to do your best to entertain the people. If you do feel the need to kill your opponent...make sure it's in front of a camera." His face darkened as he chuckled. Everyone else laughed with him.

  
"And Remember that all violations of the rules and regulations will result in immediate disqualification, _NO EXCEPTIONS_!" His voice rang out, making some people cover their ears. "...That's it, DISMISSED!"

  
The noise in the room slowly returned.  Achievement Hunter watched as Burnie's eyes immediately bolted to them. He put on a smile and walked towards them.

"Achievement Hunter!" His voice somehow came through loud and clear, even with the immense background noise. Everyone got into their tight stance from line up, Ray a few seconds behind. "Congratulations, your team has been selected to compete in the opening round!"  
  
"Thank you, sir." Geoff answered, puffing out his chest a bit more.

"If you will follow my associates, they will escort you to the starting point." His smile didn't waver as he gestured to his guards who nodded and began to march back to the huge doors. The Den mates looked at each other, quickly stumbling to catch up to the striding giants.

"What about the other team?" Michael asked, not bothering to use formalities.

"They are already being prepped for the match." Burnie kept his back straight as he strolled forward. The hallway took a left turn before coming to another set of double doors. The guards pushed them open with ease.

An old timey armory; it was certainly a change from all the smooth metal and tile they had been seeing every where. Burnie let his hands skim the wooden walls as he made his way to the front of the group.

"Here, we will prep you for your fist match." He snapped his fingers and held out his hand. One of the guards snapped a green handkerchief in the air and handed it to him.

  
"These are your 'grangers'. Your mentors should have already explained there use to you." With six nods of confirmation, he went on.

  
"If you would kindly feel the left side of your neck, you will find a small ridge on your suit. Press in on that ridge to activate your suit."

Ray found the small bump and pushed it in. It popped and he felt his suit tighten on him, green oozing down him like spilt paint. It stopped right below his elbows and below his knee, those still white areas darkening into black to look like boots and gloves.

  
"This is top!" Gavin smiled as his suit also turned. Everyone else followed, looking over themselves with new found fascination. The guards stepped forward and handed each Achievement Hunter a handkerchief.

"I suggest you tuck that where it won't fall out," Burnie warned. "The second that touches the ground, you will be taken back to your Den."  
Everyone looked themselves over again for a place to put it.

"Uuuh," Michael looked around, then just shoved it into the neck of his suit. Everyone did the same. This suit didn't really have a lot of options.

"Now, if you all are ready, I will show you to the starting point." He stepped aside and gestured for them to move forward.  
  
"Some prep work," Jack sarcastically muttered to Ryan, who nodded as they pressed forward. Two more sets of double doors later they were standing in a stone room with 3 elevating pods in them.  
  
"3 pods, 2 of you in each." Burnie pointed to the pods, talking as if the boys wouldn't figure it out on their own. "You will rise up and from there you will wait until the rules are read and the starting horn is blown."

  
"Yes sir," they all said blankly.

Burnie smiled. "Then I will leave you to it then, I̱ týchi̱ eínai sta chéria sas." Then he left, leaving his guards to stand at the door.  
" What?" Ray asked as soon as the doors shut. "It's an old Greek saying," Ryan answered. "It translates to 'the fate is in your hands' "

"So, who goes where?" Michael asked, looking towards the 3 pods.

"Well, Gus told me to look after Ray." Ryan wrapped his arms around Ray's shoulders, resting his chin on the top of his head. "So I should probably pod up with him." No objections.

"Plan G?" Geoff asked. Gavin leaned against him. "In full effect!"  
  
"Whelp, looks like you're stuck with me." Jack smiled over at Michael. "It could be worse, I could be stuck with Gavin." Michael snickered, sticking his tongue out at Gavin when he saw his pout.

"We call the middle." Ray smirked, pulling Ryan to the tube. A small section of glass moved and the duo slipped inside.  
"Left!" Gavin shouted, dragging Geoff to the other tube. Jack rolled his eyes and held the glass open as Michael stepped inside. Ray leaned against the glass and took in a deep breath.

"Excited?" Ryan asked, looking over to Gavin and mimicking the funny looking face he had on. "In a way, yeah." Ray agreed, closing his eyes. "You?"

"Well, it's better then anything else I'd be doing if I wasn't here." He chuckled, stretching his hand's above his head. "I'd still be waiting tables." Ray opened his eyes and looked at him.

"You were a fucking waiter?" Ray held back his laughter as Ryan took an a slightly annoyed face.

"Yes, I was-"

The tubes began to rumble. Ray lost his balance but Ryan caught him, pulling him close and looking up. Michael and Gavin looked at each other and flashed a thumbs up. The pod's floors started to ascend up their tubes; no one could see where to.  
Ray got back to his feet and looked up, palms against the glass. The tube's went through a layer of metal and then dirt. The darkness opened up and they were blinded by light. The walls disappeared and there was wind, the sound of huge leaves rustling, the smell of fresh rain, and natural oil. A huge forest stretched out in front of them with giant trees covered by a slight fog that stretched as far as Ray could see.

"Wow." Geoff looked as far up as he could as they came up from the ground.

"These trees...they've been here since the beginning. Like, of everything" Jack said with wide eyes.

Ryan took in a deep breath of fresh air. "This is a rain forest."  
  
"How are we supposed to see?" Gavin looked at the vines that were shooting from one tree to the others.

"We can't," Michael growled, ears perked. "I think that's the point."

"GREETINGS!" Burnie's voice cut through the fog. "AND WELCOME TO THE OPENING MATCH OF THE UNDER GAMES!"  
His voice was followed by thousands of others, cheering from all around. The boys scooted closer to each other, trying to pin point where they were.  
"I am your host, Burnie Burns, and I will be commentating on the opening games! The first match we have is an elimination match between the two highest scoring teams!"  
  
A patch of fog cleared above them. They all squinted up to see Griffon. Her wings, which were rather big for her, were parting the fog. She smiled down at them and held something for them to see, a small ball, before throwing it down at them like a star pitcher. It whizzed passed Ray's ear and hit the ground, breaking into 3 pieces and springing back up to face them.

" TEAM ACHIEVEMENT HUNTER!" The crowd behind Griffon whooped and hollered as the ginormous screen illuminated and presented a clear picture of the confused team. They all looked up as their names and stats were displayed.

"And.." Burnie trailed of as they waited. Soon after, another picture split the screen in half vertically, showing a rather scared looking boy that looked into the camera. Ray knew his face, it was Kerry. Next to him was a boy with a slightly chiseled face that still made him look young, and the girl with red hair from before. Behind them was a blonde girl and two other men he couldn't get a good enough look at. "TEAM RUBY!"  
  
"You've got to be fucking with me!" Michael yelled angrily.

"Now I'm **REALLY** glad we have Ray." Geoff smiled, rocking back onto his heels and waving at the small camera. "We're gonna need the extra light."

"Every single one of these players have been given only one rule: _You cannot kill anyone in the elimination matches._ " There were some boos and hisses, but Burnie talked over them.

"BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY CAN'T RIP FLESH AND BREAK BONES!" he howled into the mic at max volume. That got everyone's attention.

Ryan smirked "Remember boys," he looked at one of the cameras and winked. "Fan service." With a snap of his fingers a bolt wrapped around his arm before shooting into the ground with a loud crack. The crowd hit them with waves of cheers and commands to dismember each other.

"Competitors, at the ready!" Both teams tore their eyes away from the screen to face the huge mist covered forest. "GO!" The order was accompanied by the noise of a deep horn blaring over the arena.  
  
"Okay, let's stick to as much of the plan as we can," Geoff ordered.

"Ryan and Ray, get lost." Ryan grinned, opening a portal. "You don't have to ask us twice." Ray turned around, looking at them. "If we don't win, I'm quitting." He smiled; everyone mirrored him. Ray and Ryan disappeared into the abyss.

"Michael and Jack, I want you to hide. Let them think I'm alone." Michael and Jack looked at each other with a smile.

"Gavin, I want you to help me get them over here." The Brit's smile was the brightest of all.

"Let's **BLOODY DO THIS!!!** " Practically vibrating, Gavin catapulted into the misted forest.

Michael shivered and let his body succumb to his mind, flesh molding and bones bending into that of a archaic panther.

"It's all kicking off now!" he yelled and let out a thunderous roar, bolting towards the forest and sinking his claws into a tree trunk, ascending to the branches high above. 

  
Jack watched Michael climb, looking to the tree next to it. He reached out to the tree's leaves high above, and the tree reached back. It bent it's trunk down so it's leaves touched the ground. Jack ran over and grabbed onto one; another flick of his hand and the tree quickly regained it's upright shape, top rustling slightly.

Geoff made sure everyone was in place before looking to the forest again. His lips admitted words that couldn't be heard from where he stood, but whispers rang out over the forest as if he was in your ears...

_**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx** _

Kerry took a deep breath and forced himself to think. "So, what's the plan?" he asked to the red head next to him who looked over the forest.

"Just like our mentor said: search and eliminate." She held out her hand and the mist bent towards her, swirling. "We can use this for extra cover. Barbra, you're with me." The blonde stepped forward next to her, smirking at one of the cameras. "Gotcha."  
  
"Kerry, Caleb, there is bound to be a part of their team that is going to come straight at us. I want you to cut them off in the middle." Kerry nodded; Caleb crossed his arms, looking back at the other two team members who whispered to each other before looking back at him.

"What about them?" He jerked his head their way.

"Chris and Joel are going to charge from the sides," Barbra noted.

"No more talking. Let's fight!" The red head yelled and bolted forward, Barbra on her heels. Chris and Joel high fived then broke, one running along the stone wall to the right, the other left.

"You heard the lady, let's not sit around." Caleb chuckled, strolling into the mist with what seemed like no fear. For a moment, Kerry was alone, then his shadow slowly curled around him, making a low purring noise as it nudged his hand. He held his hand out for it to rub against, using his other hand to point towards what looked like the side of an above ground cave.

"Alright, buddy," he breathed. "Find them."  
  
**_XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx_**

Ray bent his knees to absorb the fall, hitting the ground and almost slamming into a tree. Ryan fell through shortly after, too used to the landing pain to really flinch.

"So, I can just start anywhere?" Ray smirked, placing his hand softly on the trunk of a tree, hand already hot.

"I'm not picky," Ryan replied.

Ray nodded and sent his hand through the trunk like a knife through butter, letting it catch fire from it's center.

Ryan smirked as he watched the trunk begin to smoke. "Hot."  
  
"I try," Ray laughed. "Now let's go!" He bolted, slapping each tree trunk and setting the base aflame.

Ryan ran next to him, keeping sharp eyes on the inner woods. After lighting everything in the tree line, they pressed inwards.

**_XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx_ **

Gavin dodged tree after tree as he ran into the heart of the grove, not stopping until he came face to face with two women in the thick mist. He immediately recognized them as Lindsay and Barbra, running in slow-mo. He smiled widely as he focused some more energy to slow time down further. When they were both barely moving, Gavin grabbed Barbra by the shoulders and spun her in a 180, grabbing a thick section of her hair and a section of Lindsay's. He giggled deviously as he tied the two locks into a tight knot and jogged lightly behind a nearby tree, letting time return. The two girls ran opposite directions and cried out when their hair was painfully yanked. They both whipped around and smacked into each other.

"What the fuck happened!?" Lindsay growled, feeling around for the hair that was being pulled on.

"I don't know!" Barbra winced.

Gavin waited a few more seconds before doing a quick pass again, wrenching their hair as he flashed behind another tree.

  
Barbra cursed and tried to back up, losing her footing on the mud and falling, Lindsay crashing down on top of her. Gavin was ready to make another pass when he heard Geoff's voice whispering in his ear.

"You think they saw us?" he whispered. Gavin shut his eyes and listened. "No. Hurry, get back!" he answered himself, his voice distorted yet persuasive, pulling him towards him and accidentally pulling him out from his hiding spot...

 "It's one of them!" Lindsay yelled, trying to get up. Gavin's eyes shot open as he looked at the girls, Lindsay pointed her open palm at him and shot ice, which nicked Gavin's arm. Gavin yelped and snarled at them, making another quick pass. With another tug of their hair, Gavin spotted Barbra's handkerchief braided into a small lock of her hair.

He dove behind another large trunk as lightning shot from Barbra's fingertips and fried the front of the tree. Gavin pressed himself against the tree and shut his eyes tight, focusing on nothing but the word **STOP**. The cold air stopped whipping past him and he couldn't feel the sting of pure energy against his back anymore. He opened eyes and moved out from behind the tree. The two girls were frozen, faces stuck in a twist of anger and determination.

Gavin worked fast, pulling off the band that kept Barbra's braid together and unraveling it, taking the red cloth and stepping a few feet away; letting his body relax and restoring time.

"SUCK MY KNOB!" He yelled, throwing it down.

Barbra looked up just in time to see her granger hit the ground, glowing. She ran her hand through her hair and screamed. " **NO!** " A red light overtook her, and she disappeared to the toll of a grandfather clock.

"And our first competitor has been eliminated!" Burnie shouted. Barbra's head shot and stats took the screen over for a few seconds before the cams returned.  
  
Gavin took a deep breath and slowed down everything. Panting as he looked up to see a whip of water inches away from his nose. He smiled at his luck and jogged back to his edge of the thicket.

_**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRESXxXxXxXx** _

 Ryan's eyes locked onto a moving figure in the distance; someone walking. "Ray," he ordered, his voice low. "Hide."

  
Ray didn't waste any time in bolting towards the rocks that laid against the wall and squeezing into the small gap in between. Ryan crouched down and ran his hand over the ground, slipping into the small gate that opened as it trailed his hand.

A small flame swirled around Ray's fingers as he walked further into the makeshift cave, listening for any one that might be near by. He jumped when he heared something scrape the rocks ahead, his flames shooting to the edges of the gape, and eyes narrowing as he looked into the shadows.

Kerry quit backing up and clasped his hand over his mouth as he looked at Ray, just feet away from him. This boy, Kerry thought, this boy was not the type to ask questions. The shadow of the cave that wrapped around him quivered, but Kerry egged them to stay up. He looked to the wall and slid his right hand forward, watching as his shadow silently stretched across the floor and up the wall next to Ray. It pulled out a loose stone and let It clank to the ground. Ray turned around and spotted the stone, picking it up. Something was off; Ray smoldered the rock in his hand, making it burn red hot. Something over there...Ray threw the rock into the shadows of the cave. Kerry yelped loudly and threw his hands towards Ray, sending the cave shadows after him. Ray banished one with a ball of fire, but the other one wrapped around his arm, preventing him from throwing the other one.

"Wait wait wait!" Kerry yelled, trying to scoot further into the corner of the cave. "I don't want to fight!"  
  
Ray froze, growling, flame burning brighter. "Prove it."  
  
"You think I'm hiding in here because I want to rip someone apart?" Kerry asked.

Ray relaxed and dropped his hand, letting the flame go out and leaving them in darkness.

"Then why are you in these games?" He felt the grip on his arm slip away.

"I got thrown in here," he stammered. "If you're going to tell anyone you have powers, do NOT tell your co-worker. He will sell your ass out."

Ray lit a small flame on his finger, making Kerry jump.

"Sell you out?" he questioned, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah. People like you and me, we're wanted now." He ran a hand through his hair, looking at him. "Bounties for mutants...can't trust anyone anymore. They'd all rat you're ass out for money."

Something slammed against the wall of the gap and screamed, knocking down more loose rocks.

  
"Aaand that's Caleb." He swallowed, looking at Ray.

"Look, I don't want to get my face smashed in today, so I'll cut you a deal." Kerry pulled his granger out from the back of his suit. "You let me be, and I throw this down after the rest of my team is inevitably gone."

Ray looked over the boy for a minute. He knew if he didn't, someone else would find him. "Ok, deal," he said quickly, hearing Ryan's laugh and another grandfather clock chimed. 

"Number two, eliminated!" they heard Burnie yell.

" _And_ , you owe me dinner."

  
Kerry's face flushed pure red. "O-ok."

"Now hide. Ryan's a psycho."

  
Kerry nodded quickly and the shadows stretched back to him, covering him in darkness and shielding him from sight.

Ray slowly treked back to the entrance and extinguished his flame, peaking around the corner.

Ryan dusted off his hands and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

  
"Looks like most of the trees are burnt, we should head back now."

  
Ray nodded, looking out towards the mist. "Alright, but let's not walk...I can feel someone nearby. I know it."

Ryan laughed, turning around and gesturing for him to follow. "Now you've got sonar?"

Ray smiled and trailed behind him.  
  
A pair of eyes watched them go.  
  
**_XxXxXxXx68INDUSTIESXxXxXxXx_**

Chris slipped from tree to tree, slowly creeping up to the other team's side of the arena. He couldn't believe it, it had only been 10 minutes and already Barbra and Caleb had bitten the dust.

Another round of whispers hit his ears. He had been hearing the whispers for a while. "I see them!" one would shout "Quick, run!" said the other. He followed them all the way past the middle of the arena, but he hasn't caught one glimpse of them. He found a good sized tree and sat under it, looking around, watching, waiting, listening. He heard nothing; this forest was too fucking quiet. He only heard two of them. Why was he only hearing two of them?

Jack looked down and the man sitting below his tree. He was worried that Geoff would lead them in circles, but he was happily wrong. He sat down on one of the tree's huge leaves, running his hands over it's silky surface, tapping into it. The tree's vines slowly uncurled from the branches below and sunk down, slipping in between it's lower wall of leaves and down to Chris.

  
The dark haired boy took one in his hand and examined it. Why did it drop? It ever so slightly wrapped around his wrist then suddenly heaved him into the sky. He yelled as he was forcefully pulled through the lower level and up to Jack, who was sitting crisscrossed on his leaf.

"Nice of you to drop in." He smiled, watching the other vines wrap around his ankles and his other wrist, pulling him tightly. "I'm guessing you're new to this neck of the woods?"  
  
Chris smiled, wincing slightly as he felt thorns rip into his skin, blood dripping from his wrists as they dug deeper. "I'm not going to lie, didn't expect this."

Jack chuckled, a small part of him was worried why he wasn't struggling. "And why is that?" He asked, vines rising behind him, spiked with overgrown stinging nettle.

"Well..." Chris looked to his left for a second, looking down. 

Jack looked closer, trying to figure out what he was playing at. In an instant Chris turned his head and spat at Jack. Drops landed on his skin and burned it, searing away the skin and sinking into his muscles. Jack screamed as the skin around it began to bubble like he was at a boil, muscle slowly liquefying. 

Chris laughed, beginning to struggle. Jack cursed bloody murder as his skin began to ooze blood, he looked at Chris and growled loudly. Chris's laughing gave way to ear piercing screams as the vines yanked on his limbs, slowly pulling him in 4 directions. He gazed in terror as his leg's skin tore like paper, exposing his stretching muscle and also beginning to pull that apart with a wet 'RIP!' as blood spilled from it, bone snapping loudly from the pressure, his other limbs not far behind.  
  
They let go when Jack fell into unconsciousness. Chris fell back to the ground and slammed against it, letting out a scream that was pain itself. He looked back at his mangled leg, gasping for air as he spotted his veins. They had ripped open and now spurted blood out like a fountain, caking his already red suit in blood.

His shaky fingers skimmed over his cloth just under his other glove. It was stained even darker red by the blood that had been pouring from the puncture wounds in his wrist. Tears of pain stained his bloody cheeks as he threw it to the ground, disappearing into the red light, followed by another toll. The camera that had been on him whizzed back up to look at Jack, spots on his face bubbling and spilling blood.

"BLOOD! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THIS IS WHAT YOU CAME HERE FOR!!!" Burnie screamed over the blaring crowd.  
  
_**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx**_

Michael's heart raced as he flew from tree to tree. He heard Jack's screams from where he sat hiding accompanied by even louder screams of another. After a few more seconds of looking, he found the Gent sprawled out over the leaves of a tree. He flew down as fast as he could, squawking in horror as he saw Jack's oozing wounds. He landed a few feet away, hopping over to him, nudging his cheek to wake him..it was way to cold.

Jacks eyes fluttered open and he slumped his head to the side, looking at a small bird that sat beside him.

"Michael?" he asked, his voice quiet and raspy. The bird made a soft chirp and hopped forward. Jack smiled softly and reached up to his granger that he had hidden in the neck of his suit, pulling it out and offering it to the small bird.

"Could you do me a favor and drop this on the ground?" he chuckled.

The bird nuzzled against his hand before taking the handkerchief, immediately flying straight down to the canopy. He let the granger go, whistling sadly as it hit the ground and he heard the bell toll.  
  
"Ouch, and the first of the Achievement Hunter had fallen!"  
  
_**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx**_

Geoff felt a twang in his subconscious. Someone finally made it over here. He opened his eyes to see a man pushing through the dense woods, looking straight at him. He cocked an eyebrow, he didn't feel any hostility.

"Joel?" he asked as the figure came closer.

"The one and only!" Joel laughed, stopping a few feet in front of him. Geoff smiled, looking around him. "I don't have any cameras."  
  
"There's been one following me for a while," Joel sighed, pointing to the small ball coming up behind him. "I don't know why...I spent 10 minutes staring at a wall."

Geoff nodded and got into an obviously practiced fighting stance. "You just can't shake the paparazzi."

Joel smiled and mirrored him, watching the cam swoosh past his head. "Ok, like old times?"  
  
Geoff nodded. "No powers, good old fisticuffs, winner gives up their granger."

Joel chuckled. "This is why I'm friends with you."  
  
"Just shut up and punch." Geoff snickered, kicking Joel off his feet. Joel hit the ground and got back to his feet. "Yes sir."  
  
Geoff threw a punch and Joel blocked it, grabbing his arm and throwing him over his head. Geoff rolled and groaned. Joel walked towards him but took too many steps forward, allowing Geoff to swipe his feet out from under him again. Joel fell back to the ground and Geoff managed to get on top of him, delivering a swift blow to his jaw. Joel coughed, spiting blood while he smiled, bucking his hips and throwing Geoff forward. He got to his feet and kicked Geoff in the ribs, making him grunt in pain.

  
"Not as sharp as you used to be?" he asked down to him.  Geoff coughed and looked up, gasping as he looked above him. Joel looked up, allowing Geoff to get up. He looked back down just in time to see the other's fist connected to his face. A loud crack of snapping cartilage went through the air as Joel stumbled back, holding his nose.

"That's what you get for being a smart ass." Geoff put his hands on his hips as he watched Joel wipe the blood off his upper lip.  
  
Joel ran forward and punched him in the gut; Geoff was too slow to stop him. He gasped for the air that was knocked out of him. He growled and dug his nails into Joel's arm, making him wince. He brought his other hand up to crush his hand.

Geoff yelped and smashed his forehead into the other male's, sending him back onto his ass. Joel ran his hand over his forehead and looked at it. Blood, great, a pretty good gash.

"Goddammit Geoff. You were always the better fighter," he admitted, pulling the cloth out of his boot. "I should probably get going. I have to go take care of Chris."  
  
Geoff walked over and took his cloth, looking at it.

"Yeah, I saw that on the big screen. I swear to god I never knew Jack had it in him."

Joel nodded, sitting up. "Well, I can't blame him. A person will do whatever it takes to stay alive."

  
Geoff held his granger up for the camera to see, hearing the crowd roar. "Drink's tomorrow night?" he asked.

Joel put his hands up to simulate him pleading. "You know it."  
  
"Alright, see ya." Geoff chuckled, dropping it.  
  
Joel waved, disappearing.  
  
Another toll.

_**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx** _

"Here kitty kitty kitty," Lindsay cooed quietly. Her team was being beat to shit 4 to 1. If she even wanted to have a chance at making it into the top ten, she had to take out the bronze. After that, she would move onto the bastard that got rid of Barbra. She heard rustling behind her and quickly spun around, twirling two ice picks in her hands. She searched the shrubs, but saw no motion.

  
"Where are you?" she whispered, listening. A low growl emitted from the tree tops. Lindsay looked up and before she could spot him, a white bangled tiger jumped from it's hiding spot on a low branch and landed on her, pinning her arms as she cried out in pain. He let out a vicious roar in her face and stared down at her.

"I hope you know how much _fucking pleasure_  I am going to take from fucking ripping you to shreds."  
  
Lindsay glared at him, putting her hands flat against the ground. "See if you're still saying that when I use your pelt as my rug."  
  
His claws dug into her skin, drawing blood. She cried out and balled up her fists, sending whips of water up and lashing at Michael's back. He roared again and jumped off of her, letting his claws drag claw marks into her arm. She got to her feet and bolted at him, frozen knives poised to strike.

Michael let her swing the first one and bit down on it, snapping the pick in half. She swung the second one and it sunk into his side, making him roar out in pain. He swiped a massive paw and racked her face, clawing deep gashes into her cheek and sending her flying to the ground.

Michael groaned in pain as his thick hide turned back to pale, freckled skin. He looked down to see Lindsay's pick stuck deep into the front of his hip. He took a deep breath and wrapped his hand around the spike and in one smooth motion yanked it from his flesh, letting out a loud gasp and yelp. He dropped the blood covered ice tool and applied pressure to the wound, blood seeping into his hand through his suit.

Lindsay shook her head and tried to get to her feet, her vision slightly blurred. Michael cursed under his breath. He needed to find his team.

He shut his eyes tight as he allowed the change, arms being enveloped in feathers as his bones hollowed to make wings. As soon as he could, he took to the skies, fighting through his pain and breaking through the tree tops, soaring above the mist. Thousands upon thousands of eyes locked onto him in massive shouts and cheers.

Michael looked down and saw Lindsay propelling up, grabbing onto his foot and sending ice shards into his leg, making blood explode from small pockets of his leg. Michael shrieked as he tried to shake her off.

 

 

Ryan cracked open a portal, looking back up at the scene. He cursed loudly as Lindsay sent spikes further up Michael's legs and drawing more blood. Ray clenched his fists and looked to Ryan, yelling  
  
"Hurry up and save him!" Ryan tore his eyes away from the seen and looked at Ray. "I can't, I might hit Michael!"  
  
Ray looked back up. His heart tore as he saw the pain in Michael's face. It was the same as that night when he got burned. How dare that bitch touch him! Ray had to help him! Ryan had to-

"Throw me," Ray muttered, eyes wide.

"What-" Ray spun around.

"Ryan, **THROW ME!** "  
  
Ryan picked Ray up, exuding all of his strength into throwing the boy. He catapulted Ray into the portal, throwing his hand to the sky and forcing another portal open.

  
Ray shot out of the end portal, eyes locking on the two. He propelled himself even faster as his hand glowed bright white with all of his rage.

"Michael!" he yelled. The auburn haired boy's head snapped that way. Lindsay screamed bloody murder as Ray's lit hand grabbed onto her ankle, feeling his fingers curl into her flesh as they brushed her bone.

She let go and she and Ray plummeted back towards the mist. Ray retracted his fingers from her ankle and rocketed back up to Michael, spinning around and breathing fire down on her like and angered dragon as she hit the tree line.

Michael cursed as his wings turned back into arms and he started to fall. Ray caught him, shooting rockets out of the bottom of his boots and reducing their fall, clearing the mist, burning all the trees below him to cinders.

 Ray fell to his knees in the ashes and looked around, but he didn't see Lindsay.

  
Seconds later the clock chimed twice and both Lindsay and Kerry's photo's appeared on the screen.  
  
"INCREDIBLE!" Burnie sang out, bolting out of his seat. "TEAM RUBY HAS BEEN ELIMINATED!"

The crowd broke out into cheers of max volume, looking down at the pair in the clearing.

Michael sat up and laughed, happiness keeping the pain away as he looked at Ray. "We fucking won!!"

Ray laughed too, throwing his hands up.

 "We are unstoppable!" They both suppressed the rest of their giggles and looked at each other, faces softening.

They both smiled and leaned in, bringing their lips together in a hot kiss. Ray cupped Michael's cheek and deepened the kiss. Michael moaned into it, wrapping his arms around Ray's neck.  
   
"OH, LOVE ON THE BATTLEFIELD!" Burnie laughed, sending the flock of people watching into an adoring frenzy as their kiss was projected onto the screen.

**_XxXxXxXx68INDUSTIRESXxXxXxXx_ **

 

Ryan's cheeks tinted slightly as he gawked up at the screen. "Man, they are _really_ going at it."

Gavin suppressed his giggles and looked back up at the screen only to burst out laughing again when he saw their lip lock. "Oh my LORD, now we'll get sponsors all over the gaf!"  
  
Geoff nodded in agreement, looking up at the screen. " Yep, A LOT of teen girls will be talking to their rich parents tonight."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *VICTORY CONFETY*  
> WOOO, GO ACHIEVEMNT HUNTER!!!!
> 
> Hopefully this left you knowing what's going to happen in the next chapter. ;)
> 
> Leave kudos if you know what's about to go down OR you spotted one of the 7 movie references I used! XD
> 
> LOVE YOU ALL! 
> 
> K, BYE!~ <3


	6. Big Big Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray and Michael get some time alone for the first time since they'd met...
> 
>  
> 
> With this night to talk and relax, will they come to find out that that kiss they shared wasn't just for popularity?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the LONG ASS wait, I was on vacation and had absolutely NO TIME alone with my computer! 
> 
> But I did it, here's what (Most of you) Have been waiting for! 
> 
> FORGIVE ME!  
> HOPE YOU LIKE IT!!!! <3

Geoff looked over Jack once more, giving his hand another small squeeze. Gus had already injected him with anti-venom and bandaged his wounds. Now they just had to wait.

Jack had only woken up once. He couldn't move, but he insisted that he see Geoff. Geoff ran to his side and listened while he recounted all of what happened with Chris, constantly stopping to say he was sorry for getting eliminated. The older male demanded he stopped apologizing and told them they had won the match, taking Jack's hand and telling him they'd get him fixed up in no time. He kept running his other hand over the man's chest, checking his breathing and his pulse.   
  
Michael sat next to him, an arm slung over his shoulders. "Don't worry Geoff, Joel'll be here soon."  
  
Geoff nodded, a small smile over his face as he looked at the Lad. "You know...We've been here since the fucking beginning, Team OG." The words stung behind his eyes. "We've been through a lot of shit...but this shit, it never get's any easier."

Ryan willed himself to his feet from his seat on the couch, walking over to the three and looking down at Jack. "I'm sure it doesn't," he spoke softly, rubbing small circles into Geoff's back. "But, imagine how thrilled he is going to be when he finds out we won two out of our three matches."   
He plopped down next to Geoff, feeling the immediate consequences when his slinged arm banged against the arm of the couch Jack was laying on, making him wince and hiss quietly.

Michael looked down at his bandaged leg, sighing. "It could have been worse..."

"Yeah, we could've ended up like that bloke, Chris." Gavin chimed in from where he laid sprawled out on the floor, ice pack over his head and the cold floor doing wonders for his back. "Could you imagine having your smegging leg nearly ripped off?" he shuddered, looking at Ray.

He sat leaned up against the wall next to him, holding his chest and trying to stop the small amount of blood still seeping through the bandages, a bit woozy from the blood loss. "I can't even try to imagine..."

Geoff flinched and looked towards the door, holding Jack's hand tightly. "Joel's here."

Michael held Geoff down as he got up. "I'll get it."

Geoff nodded and watched the Lad hobble towards the entrance, opening it up. The dark nothingness in the hallway broke away to reveal Joel and Kerry. "Hey Michael," Joel smiled.

"Just get in here." Michael smiled back and let them in. Joel quickly went to Geoff's side, looking over Jack.

"How's Chris?" Geoff looked up at him. "Whiney, but he'll live," Joel said, beginning to un-bandage his chest. "Though, one leg is just a hair longer then the other now."  
  
Jack had four deep wounds on his chest, still slightly oozing yellow slosh. Joel took a deep breath and put a hand over one of his wounds, applying slight pressure. The area around Jack's wound pulsated with a green glow, skin and muscle regenerating to fill in the hole of missing flesh. He let his fingertips drag as he moved up his skin, the glow following his touch like mosquitos mesmerized by light, healing everything the light touched. Jack's face slowly uncoiled from it's painful expression to one of peace, his eyes slowly shuttering open and locking with Geoff's. Geoff smiled and squeezed his hand.

"There it is," Jack said in a quiet, raspy voice, slowly moving his shaky hand up to cup Geoff's cheek, brushing away a stray tear. "There's that smile I live for."

Geoff took his hand again and leaned down, placing a soft kiss on his lips. "You're lucky I put up with all of this 'almost dying' shit."  
  
Kerry smiled solemnly at the scene before crossing the room to Ray, who looked up lazily at him. "Sup Kerry?" Kerry's shadow wrapped around Ray's chest, squeezing him and effectively stopping the bleeding. "Oh, you know, getting dirty looks for not being beat to shit." He sat down next to him.

"How'd your other two matches go?" Ray looked down at the dark mass, slowly bringing a hand down and petting it....at least, he thought he was.

"The second one didn't go to bad, Ryan got his arm broken though. The third one, we all got our asses whooped." He chuckled, letting his head rest on the wall. "I didn't know I had that much blood in me."

Jack propped himself up on his elbows and sucked in a deep breath of air. "Aah, holeless lungs. Thanks Joel."

Joel nodded at him and pretended to dust off his hands. "Miricle: Preformed. Who's next?"

"ME!" Gavin shouted from the floor.

"I outrank you!" Ryan replied, raising his good hand. Gavin whined and sunk back onto the floor. Joel scooted over to Ryan and helped him get off his sling and bandages. He ran his hand over Ryan's arm, making him shiver.

"How the  _fuck_ did you manage this? Your arm is broken in three places." Ryan chuckled, dwelling in the great feeling of his healing hands.

"There was this guy; big, bearded, nose ring. Anyway, he didn't like it when I played peeka-boo with him."

Joel thought for a second as his hands moved up Ryan's arm. "Yeah, we had nose ring guy on our third round." His glow faded and he felt the appendage over for any more problems. "He got disqualified...hit me so hard he broke my neck."

"Jesus," Ryan chuckled, rolling his shoulder and testing his grip. "Did they have Monty down there?"

Joel walked to where Gavin laid and bent over, tapping both his shoulders and signaling for him to sit up. "Yep." He sat down in a criss cross and rubbed his hands together, placing them on Gavin's shoulders and messaging his power into the Brit's pinched and torn muscles, making him gasp and shudder before finally relaxing.   
"Lucky I wasn't too far gone by the time he got there." He slowly began to move down Gavin's back. "Though he didn't reset my neck before reviving me, fucker."

He let the sandy haired boy lean back into his lap as he brought his hands up to run through his hair, sealing the hair line cracks in his skull. "Kerry, how's new guy?"

"Besides the gaping hole in his chest," Ray sighed, not wanting to not be able to speak for himself. "Pretty good." 

"Well just try not to bleed out. You're next."    
  
"No. Get Michael first."  Ray waved him off, looking up to Michael.

The auburn haired boy looked back at him. "You have a fucking HOLE in your chest. I can wait five minutes." Both boys chuckled. Joel pried Gavin out of his lap and went to Ray, shooing Kerry's shadow away and smoothing his hands over his chest.

"This is pretty deep. Third match wound?"  Ray nodded, forcing long breaths as he felt the sting in his lungs die down.

"They aren't out to kill you, but they want you to know that they can," he muttered as he watched his chest heal. The gaping wound scabbed over before disappearing completely. Joel moved his hands down to Ray's bruised stomach and glanced at his scars, cocking an eyebrow.

"Are you a criminal or something? These look like knife wounds. "

Ray looked to his biggest scar that Joel traced with his index finger. "Well, that one is."

"I guess people come from everywhere," Joel muttered as he finished him up and got back to his feet, going to assist Michael. "You know, if I weren't friends with Geoff and didn't despise most of my team...I would tell you to pay me."  
  
"Well, you'd actually have to do  _q_ _uality_ patchwork for that." Geoff chuckled, sitting next to Jack on the couch and kicking his feet up.

Michael flinched as Joel's fingers scraped painfully against his open flesh. "Hey, shut up or I might accidentally make his wound worse." Kerry and Ray watched as he patched up the rest of Michael and went on to Geoff. They really didn't feel like talking anymore. They were just...idle. Ray thought about it, how they were kind of the same...tugged from normal(ish) lives into a place where they have to use what got them thrown in there to keep each other alive. All for the sake of the wealth's entertainment, at least he thought it was for the wealthy....he needed to figure out what the fuck this was about.

"Hey," he whispered over to Kerry. "When I do I get my food?"

"Uuh." Kerry rubbed the back of his neck. "Tomorrow night?"

"Works for me."

"Alright, well, that's the last of you fuckers. You guys are all good to go...Though I think most of you should stay here tonight." Joel motioned for Kerry to get up. The dirty blonde said a quick goodbye to Ray before moving to Joel's side.

"Why do you say that?" Geoff cocked his eyebrow.

"Okay, let me rephrase that," Joel crossed his arms. "Whoever can stand up get's the okay to go home."  
  
All the boys shrugged the comment off, getting to their feet. Geoff was the first one up...and the first one back down. Pain shot through his ankle like it was still broken. Jack couldn't stand for six seconds without moving into a coughing fit, Gavin couldn't stand on his own, his hand laid heavily on the wall.

"Do you see what I'm saying? Just because your wounds are healed doesn't mean your nerves know it. It will take a few hours for the pain to die down." Joel looked at Michael, who was a little wobbly, but could hold his own weight. He moved to Ray, who blinked a couple of times to try and clear his light headedness. Then to Ryan, who winced slightly at his knee, which still hurt from the fracture.

"Look's like you three aren't that bad." He looked to Gus, who was already filling out papers to get pain meds sent down. "But I do suggest pumping them all with pain relievers and antibiotics...just in case I missed something."

"Already on it," He mumbled as he jotted down names and listed injuries.

"Well, thanks for not letting us all die," Jack joked.

"Anytime." Joel gave a small salute.

"Now if you will excuse us, we have teammates that are probably waiting for the medicine we were supposed to be getting."  
  
Kerry waved and snapped his fingers, throwing his hand up and engulfing them in shadows. Each light flickered out momentarily as they stepped under it. Gus following behind them, saying he would be back with the medicine soon. There was a few seconds of blissful silence...and Ray was a fool to think it would last when Gavin was still in the room.

"So why were you and Michael snogging at the end of round one?" He asked innocently as he rolled over on his stomach to face him. Michael's cheeks turned a shade of pink, bringing out his freckles.

"Well-uh-I mean." Ray stumbled over his words. It was a heat of the moment thing, really. He _does_ think Michael is pretty cute...but it just seemed like the thing to do.

"Gus told us 'do anything to get sponsors' right?  What better way then love constantly being threatened by death?" He crossed his arms and smiled down at the Brit. Gavin must have been content with that answer, because he turned back on his back with a small hum.

Gus soon returned with the medicine; six bottles all labeled with names.

"These already have your regulated doses. Just take it all," He said as he read each name and tossed them to their owner. Geoff opened his up and knocked them down, followed by Jack. Michael tried to take them all, cursing under his breath as he had to shake the last one he had missed into his hand and pop it.  Ryan took each of his six pills in groups of two then went to Gavin, rubbing his back as he took each pill carefully.

"He's never had much luck taking pills. He'll throw them right back up if he's not careful." Ryan talked over his shoulder to Ray to satisfy his curious look. Ray just nodded, shaking all the pills into his hand and getting them over with in one big gulp. He felt them go down his throat, a weird dull sensation claimed his stomach and chest cavity, making him breath out at the icy yet hot feeling.

 "Ryan, can you make sure to feed Limpy when you get back to the apartment?" Jack asked, stretching back out over the couch and resting his head on Geoff's lap. "He need's to take the vitamins with his food tonight."  
  
"You know damn right that cat hates those things!" Michael protested.

"No, _you_ hate those things," Ryan corrected. "And if you didn't try to find out where he went at night, Gavin wouldn't have accidently fed it to you!"  
  
Ray couldn't help but laugh at that.... these guys argued like they had no cares in the world; it was nice.

"Gavin should have fucking remembered that Limpy is BLACK!" Michael huffed, glaring down at the younger boy.

"Michael, I couldn't tell, it was dark!" Gavin protested.

"Don't pull that 'I couldn't see' shit! LIMPY HAS THREE LEGS!" The Lads slowly progressed into a screaming match. Eventually Geoff just couldn't take it anymore.

"Oh my god, _shut up,_ " his voice echoed throughout Ray's mind, seemingly bouncing around into his brain before sinking in with a dull throb. "Let's just all agree that Gavin's a fucking idiot and Michael shouldn't be poking his goddamn nose around in the cat's business," He said, rubbing his temples.

"Now you three get home and rest up." His tone softened. "If you're not ready to go tomorrow I'll kick your asses myself." 

Ryan smiled with a nod, bringing the older man in for a hug. "I'll make sure these two get plenty of sleep." Michael went to Geoff and hugged him as well. Geoff placed a small kiss on his temple. Geoff looked over to Ray, opening his arms. "So, are you going to give me a fucking hug, or just stand there?"

Ray's face tinted pink and he forced his feet to move forward. "Sorry." He bent down and gave Geoff a hug.

The tattooed man smiled slightly at Ray's nervousness, whispering "You did a good job today, kid. 'm proud of you." Ray's face took on another shade of pink and he gripped tighter to the other man.

"And I saw you staring at the guitar in the living room... Michael's a big sucker for musicians, " He chuckled and let Ray go. He smiled down at Geoff and nodded. 

"Night, everyone." Ryan bid adieu as he let the portal slip in beneath him, dropping him into darkness. Michael and Ray did the same, Ray allowing Michael go before him before he let himself drop into the pit of nothingness.

 

**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRESXxXxXxXx**

 

Ray closed his eyes as he drifted for a few moments in the watery nothingness before feeling the weight of gravity on his shoulders and solid ground beneath his feet. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Michael. His redish-brown curls, his round freckled face... and for some reason, he was thankful.

"Hello...? EARTH TO RAY!" Michael shouted, slicing through Ray's thoughts. Michael smiled as Ray visibly jumped.

"You were staring at me." He cocked an eyebrow at the younger male, who just smiled back at him.

"Is that a bad thing?"  
  
Michael's eyes shot to the floor and he muttered. "Well, no."

Ryan chuckled at the pair a walked from where they were in the living room to the entry way, grabbing a coat. "I am going to feed the cat and run some errands. Please don't die while I'm gone."  
  
"No promises." Ray said automatically, making the older man chuckle.

"That's the spirit." And with that, he opened the door and ventured into the cold night, letting the door slam shut behind him.

"Looks like we're on our own for dinner then." Michael sighed, leaning back on his heels and looking to Ray. "You okay with cold pizza?"

Ray snorted as he looked back. "Please; where I come from, cold pizza's a blessing."

Both boys raced into the kitchen. Michael lazily opened the fridge and dug out the box of pizza, handing a slice to Ray before leaning against the counter and taking a bite of his. Ray took a bite; it was Hawaiian.

" So," He said inbetween bites. "We haven't really got a chance to talk since I, um... _joined_ you guys." Ray chose his words carefully.

"Where you from?" Michael said through a mouth full of cheese and pineapple.

"Here in New York," Ray answered.

"No shit!" Michael smiled, turning slightly to face him a bit more. "I'm from Jersey."

Ray smiled back "No way! Small world."

They let out soft laughter for a moment before slipping back into silence.

"Got any hobbies?" Michael prompted. Ray's mind snapped back to what Geoff had said and he smiled.

"Well, I play a little guitar in my spare time," he said in a bit of a cocky tone, watching Michael perk up slightly.

"Do ya now?" He giggled "Well now you _gotta_ show me!"

Ray shoved the rest of his pizza into his mouth. "Alright, got a guitar?"  
  
"Right over there." Michael did the same, pointing to the dark blue fender that leaned against the wall next to the patio door. "It's Jack's, though he hasn't had a lot of time to play for the past week or two."

Ray nodded and walked over to the guitar, picking it up and looking outside. "Beautiful night, want to go sit outside?"

Michael wiped his hands off with a paper towel and went to the door, sliding it open. "Sure."

The small patio consisted of a one of those reclining chairs you would find at an apartment pool (Geoff had stolen it from two complexes over, apparently.) a small patio table with five chairs around it, and a row of exotic and colorful flowers to the right that bloomed huge flowers that reached towards the moonlight; no doubt a result of Jack's green thumb.

"Not much, but we sit out here for dinner every once and a while," Michael said as he took a seat in one of the chairs. Ray fell onto the pool chair and stretched his legs out over the long seat.

"I think this may be bigger then my old apartment," Ray joked. Michael laughed and watched him tune a few loose strings. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but was cut off when Ray began strumming.  
  
"IIIIIIIIIIIII'm hooked on a feeling,  
I'm high on believing,  
that you're in love with me!"  
He sang out, then stopped, saying the D string was still slightly off.  
  
He adjusted it quickly, smiling up at Michael and plucking a few stray notes. "What would the young gentlemen like me to serenade him with tonight?"

Michael took a few breathes to calm down because he had laughed so hard at the old song. "Surprise me."

Ray smiled bigly and nodded. "Yes sir."

His randomly plucked strings collapsed into a soothing melody as his fingers moved to their new destination.

"I was down at the New Amsterdam  
Starin' at this yellow-haired girl  
Mr. Jones strikes up a conversation  
With a black-haired flamenco dancer  
You know, she dances while his father plays guitar  
She's suddenly beautiful, we all want something beautiful  
Man, I wish I was beautiful  
So come dance this silence down through the mornin'  
Cut up, Maria  
Show me some of them Spanish dances  
Pass me a bottle, Mr. Jones  
Believe in me  
Help me believe in anything  
'Cause I, I wanna be someone who believes  
Yeah."  
  
His eyes closed and his voice was silky and smoothed, beckoning Michael forward. He leaned in a bit closer, loving the way his voice caressed the words into the air.

"Mr. Jones and me  
tell each other fairy tales  
And we stare at the beautiful women  
 He's looking at her.  
 "Ah, no, no, He's is looking at me  
Smilin' in the bright lights  
Comin' through in stereo  
When everybody loves you  
You can never be lonely. "

Michael blushed slightly; this wasn't how the song went. Ray's fingers danced across the frets in swift motions.

"Well I'm gonna paint my picture  
Paint myself in blue, red, black and gray  
All of the beautiful colors are very, very meaningful  
Yeah, well you know, gray is my favorite color  
I felt so symbolic yesterday  
If I knew Picasso  
I would buy myself a gray guitar and play."

 Ray swung his legs over the side of the chair, facing Michael.

"Mr. Jones and me look into the future  
Yeah, we stare at the beautiful women  
 He's looking at her - I don't think so, he's looking at me  
Standin' in the spotlight  
I bought myself a gray guitar  
When everybody loves me  
I will never be lonely  
I will never be lonely..  
 He said I'm never gonna be lonely

I wanna be a lion  
Ah, everybody wanna pass as cats  
We all wanna be big, big stars  
Yeah, but we got different reasons for that  
Believe in me 'cause I don't believe in anything  
And I, I wanna be someone to believe  
To believe, to believe  
Yeah."

 Mr. Jones and me stumbling through the Barrio  
Yeah, we stare at the beautiful women  
She's perfect for him  
Man, but he's way more perfect for me  
 Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky  
When everybody love you  
Ah son, that's just about as funky as you can be." 

Michael smiled...the first genuine fuckin' smile since this whole shit started. Ray was playing with his heart and soul...just for him. Ray looked up at him with that same, _genuine_ smile. His melody slowed, but his smile didn't. The moonlight glistened off the dark body of the guitar and lit their faces. Ray loved how the light caught Michael's cheeks and made his eyes seem even deeper.

"When I look at the television  
I wanna see me starin' right back at me  
We all wanna be big stars  
But we don't know why and we don't know how  
But when everybody loves me  
I wanna be just about as happy as I can be."  
  
Ray's face softened as he looked over Michael's own, glimpsing true happiness that he hadn't seen since he was with his family. Michael leaned in closer and Ray found himself doing the same thing. They nuzzled together softly and he played the last four notes sweetly as he whispered the last words against Michael's soft lips.

"Mr. Jones and me...we're gonna be...big, big stars..." 

Michael leaned his head up and kissed Ray, wrapping his arms around Ray's neck. Ray leaned in even closer and deepened the kiss, slowly setting the guitar down next to the bench. He rested his hands on Michael's hips for a moment before putting his legs back on the chair and pulling him into his lap. Michael gasped softly into the kiss, straddling Ray and grinding his hips down softly. Ray moaned and broke the kiss, nuzzling his face into the crook of Michael's neck.

"Have you ever been with a man before?" Michael moaned as Ray nipped and sucked on his collar bone.

"Honestly, I've never been with anyone before."  
  
Michael smiled and grinded their hips together again, making Ray groan. He didn't understand why he found it hot that Ray was a virgin, but he did.

"So you're new to this?" He chuckled. Ray smirked against his pale skin and grazed his hand down Michael's hip, wrapping his hand around Michael's bulge and groping him hard. Michael moaned in surprise. Ray took the opening and captured his lips in a hot kiss again. He gave him a few more gropes and pressed his finger tips forwards, Michael felt them slowly move to his entrance and press in slightly, making him shiver.

"You've n-never been wi-th anyone?~" Michael forced words out as Ray bit his adam's apple softly.

"Nope, just seen a lot of porn." The auburn haired boy chuckled softly and pushed down on Ray's advancing hand.  
  
"Wanna take this inside?" he whispered, his breath hot against Ray's ear.

"I'd love to." Ray smirked.

Michael got off his lap and took his hand, helping him up and leading him inside. They made their way through the living room like fumbling idiots; laughing, kissing, tugging each other's clothes off and whispering dirty thoughts to one another. They finally got into the bedroom in nothing but their underwear. 

Michael pushed Ray down onto the Lad's bed and crawled on top of him and straddled him again. Ray moaned and pushed his hips up into Michael's, pulling the other boy down into a deep kiss. Michael kissed back and rubbed their erections together through their underwear,  making the younger boy moan. Ray broke the kiss and flipped them, pinning Michael to the bed.

"You're so hot...beautiful...perfect." The words fell from his lips as he kissed down Michael's jaw and neck, moving down to his chest and suckling on one of his perked nipples.

"Why are fucking babbling?" Michael winced as Ray's teeth grazed over his soft flesh and continued downwards.

"I'm not babbling," He stated as he moved in between the older boy's legs, kissing down to the hem of his boxers and wrapping his hand around his erection through his underwear. Michael bit his bottom lip, propping himself up on his elbows to watch him.

"Would you just hurry up and fuck me?~" He breathed, spreading his legs wider.

"And _I'm_ the virgin," Ray laughed lowly and snaked his fingers under the hem of Michael's boxers, yanking them down past his knees and getting off the bed to pull them the rest of the way off at a painstakingly slow rate. Michael tried to speed up the process, looking back at him with lust filled eyes.

"So..are you gonna take those off, too?" he gestured to Ray's impossibly tight boxers.  
  
"Well, you know, I'm not sure if I could get them off myself." He shrugged his shoulders.

Michael rolled his eyes, scooting off the bed and onto his feet, bringing him in close and rubbing hotly against him.

"You're really something," he whispered and bit down softly on his earlobe, grabbing Ray's boxers and tugging them down.

"You know it." Ray snickered in reply. Michael took his and Ray's cocks in hand and pumped slowly. Ray pushed into Michael's hand, whimpering. "Aaah~fuck, f-fuck!"  
  
"Do you want to fuck me?" Michael asked, squeezing their cocks together and smearing the pre come over the heads.

"Yes." Ray groaned. He leaned forward desperately, but Michael leaned away from the kiss. "How bad?"  
  
"Really bad." Ray gasped.

Michael let his hand slip away and Ray whimpered from the loss.

"Then I better get to work," He smirked, giving him a quick kiss before dropping to his knees, not wasting a single second before taking Ray's head in his mouth. Ray ran a hand through Michael's curly hair, tugging on it slightly to try and get him to move. Michael gladly obliged and began to bob his head, stroking what he couldn't get with his mouth.  
He swirled his tongue around the shaft and paid special attention to all the places he knew would make Ray unravel. He wanted to make Ray feel good...to make him feel _so_ good. The pure imagery was getting him harder and harder and desperately horny. His eyes darkened as he swallowed all of him and the hand in his hair tightened.

"Oh my god _Michael_!" Ray gasped loudly.

He yanked the older boy off of him and pulled him up, pushing him back down on the bed.

"You _really_ want me to fuck you senseless, don't you?" He growled as he crawled on top of Michael, positioning himself at Michael's entrance and grabbed a hold of his dick, squeezing the base tightly.

"Fuck, Yes!~" Michael whimpered up at him, pushing into his hand,

"No preparation?" He suggested darkly.

Michael nodded. "Yes, fuck, aah~Whatever gets you in me faster." Michael sighed.

Ray smirked and pushed inside of him, slipping in with ease.

"Oh, so you did prepare yourself?" He teased the boy with slow shallow thrusts, sucking a dark hickey onto his neck.

"You weren't fucking my mouth, I was bored and a-aaah!~ just go _faster_!" He gasped as he pushed his hips down to get any sort of friction.

Ray began thrusting deeper, pumping Michael's cock in time with his trusts. Michael let out small moans and groans with every thrust, bringing Ray's lips into another deep kiss. Ray moaned into the kiss and thrusted in harder, looking for his G-spot. A few more thrusts in and Michael gasped loudly, moaning out.

"T-there, right there! Oh my _god_ fuck me right there!~" Ray began ramming into the spot repeatedly, moaning as the intense pleasure that Michael's tight, hot hole tightening around him rocked his body with pleasure. Michael became a mess of moans and groans and whimpers, throwing his head back at the immense feeling.

"Aaah~aa I'm gonna...mmh!~ c-cum!" Michael panted.  
  
Ray smirked and sped up his pace, pumping faster and whispering against Michael's neck.

"Do it. It's gonna be so fucking hot~" Michael grabbed Ray's chin and forced his head up, kissing him sloppily as he came, shooting hot cum over his stomach and into Ray's hand. Ray came shortly afterwards, thrusting erratically a few more times and pumping Michael still, loving the way he whimpered from over stimulation and begged for him to stop and not to stop at the same time. Michael panted against Ray's lips as he pulled out and rolled over, taking deep breaths.

"That-that was amazing," Ray breathed. Michael smiled and rolled over, wrapping himself around Ray.

"Eww, no, you're all sticky!" Ray laughed, wrapping his arms around Michael.

"It's your fault!" Michael retorted, pulling the covers over them. "And I'm to lazy too take a shower. Gavin will wash the sheets tomorrow, anyway."

Ray smiled down at the older boy, taking his hand and kissing his burned, now slightly less pink, wrist. "You're absolutely beautiful...."

Michael smiled back at him, laying his head on his chest. "Why are you saying all this shit?"

Ray put Michael's hand down on his chest, spreading his fingers out to feel his racing heart. "Because I want you to know this isn't just meaningless sex.."

Michael blushed and looked down at Ray's hand resting on top of his.

"..I never thought it was. Ray, you saved my life! You've really helped this team so much and it's only been a day. You mean too much to me...to US for that" He leaned up and placed a soft kiss on Ray's lips before snuggling down to his chest and closing his eyes.

"Goodnight," He whispered sweetly. Ray smiled softly and kissed the top of his head. "Night."

  
And they feel into a blissful sleep. (Only waking up once when Ryan threw the clothes they had left scatted in the living room at them.) Snuggled tightly together.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT WAS ALL SAD
> 
> THEN FUNNY
> 
> THEN CUTE
> 
> THEN ALL LIKE "DAYUM, THAT'S STEAMY!"
> 
> Hope you liked it, Leave Kudos if you liked it...or if you know the songs I used...or if you love pie...Yeah, I need to go sleep now.
> 
> BYE GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :3


	7. The Pit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rich man's rule changes cause mass panic and Ray doesn't like what follows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! 
> 
> Once again I am SO VERY SORRY I am so utterly late, my schedule is horrible and I have had almost no time to write!
> 
> But this is kinda long, so I hope it makes up for it!  
> HOPE YOU ENJOY!

Ray felt soft curls rub against his chin, pulling him back to consciousness. He dwelled happily in the feeling of the body against his...that is, until the other boy sat up and it pulled painfully at the sticky skin that was still stuck together. Ray yelled and rocketed off the bed, peeling himself completely from the other boy. "Sorry, sorry!" Michael stammered, getting to his feet. "I guess we probably should have showered." He smiled apologetically as Ray glared at the clock and rubbed the red patch of skin on his stomach. It was 3:45AM. "Ya think?" he replied.  
The auburn haired boy only shrugged and smiled, pressing himself against the bathroom door and sliding in. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he purred. Ray let his annoyance dissolve into a small smile as he went to join Michael in the bath.

They shared a quick shower as well as a few long kisses and a few teasing nips before Ryan came pounding on the door. "Guys, hurry up! I made fucking breakfast and everything!" Michael detached himself from Ray's lips and looked towards the door in glee. "Did you make steak and eggs?" Ray chuckled and groped Michael's hips, making him bite his lip. "What else would I make?" Ryan answered. "HOLY SHIT." Michael's face lit up and he looked back to Ray, giving him another peck on the lips. "Listen, this is great...but Ryan's steak and eggs are something I CANNOT fucking miss." Ray smiled and did a fake pout, untangling himself from the boy and stepping out of the shower. "Fine, if you would rather choose food over me-" "Fuck you, I'm hungry!" Michael replied as he hopped out of the shower and shook his head, flinging water everywhere. The Lads then quickly threw on some clothes and headed to the kitchen; surely enough there were two plates of steak and eggs there to greet them. "I love my den so much," Michael muttered and grabbed a fork, sitting down at the table and immediately stuffing his face. "Love you too," Ryan replied through a mouth full of meat. Ray took a seat in between them, quickly getting a mouth full of steak and eggs and by god this was the best breakfast he had ever eaten! Well, aside from Gavin's...where did these men learn to cook?

"Ryan, where did you learn to cook like this?" Ray asked.  
"Well, before I waited at the restaurant I worked at, they put me back at the cooking station," Ryan explained and he was cut off by Michael. "And He worked at this fucking fantastic steak house and bar." Ryan nodded and Ray shoved another piece of steak in his mouth. "Does that mean you can mix drinks, too?"  
"Not as well as I can cook." Ryan said honestly. Content with the answers Ray went back to eating. There was a minute or two of silence while everyone finished their food and put away their plates, then Ryan fell onto the couch with a smirk. "So, anyone want to explain to me why I came home to an empty pizza box, Jack's guitar out on the patio, and clothes thrown everywhere like a tornado ripped through the joint?"  
Ray flinched as a sheet of pink flooded onto his cheeks and he tried to think of an explanation that wasn't 'We fucked like a pair of horny teenagers', but Michael beat him there. "Gotta give the rookie a bit of orientation, right?" He giggled and slid onto the other side of the couch, pulling his hands behind his head. "None of you boys were going to man up and do it." Ray snorted, leaning against the wall. "Orientation? I fucked you into the bed sheets!" He laughed. Ryan, caught off guard by his comment, busted into hysterical laughter. "Oh my god, he called you out!" Michael sunk into the couch, not daring to let any hint of red on his face. "Anyway." Ryan smiled over to Ray. "If you want to know a real 'orientation', you come find me." He winked and this time Michael laughed. "Please, you'd break him!"

"I'll keep an eye on you." Ray smiled back.  
  
They let some more silence flood the room before getting up and getting their jackets. Time to head down to the station...

 

**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx**

 

Ray was way less tense as he fell for the second time, lighting his palms and squinting into the darkness. He could vaguely make out the tunnels that breached from the main pit and twined out for what looked like forever. What caught him off guard was the weirdly pronounced shriek of 'WHAT THE HELL!?' and the flash of white skin and short brown hair; grey-ish green eyes wide with shock as Ray fell past them. Ray gasped and tried to steer closer to the back wall. He felt a gust of air and looked down to see a set of white wings dive under him, barely missing him as the bird person catapulted into the next tunnel. "What was that!?" Her high pitched voice echoed through the tunnels, quivering slightly. Ray slid from the tunnels mass confusion into the metal hall he had seen the day before, skidding to a halt in front of Michael and Ryan. "There's other people in there!" He panted. "Yeah, that fucking bird-lady almost side swiped me," Michael said with slight annoyance. "If they're letting team's in there, then that means we're going live soon." Ryan smiled.

"Live?" Ray asked, even more confused. "The opening matches are not allowed to be video taped, the only way to see it is to buy a ticket in." Michael explained quickly over his shoulder as he went to punch the code into the door. "If there are people in the tunnel, that means the circuit has enough funding to keep the games going, so they start broadcasting." Ryan took his hand and threw him into the hallway, it had significantly less people then yesterday. "They want to make sure we can adapt to the sudden changes." Ray's head was swimming. Every time someone talked he got more and more lost. " _What?_ " Was all he could think to say. "The rest of the matches won't be like the ones we were in yesterday: Though some people may choose to give us stuff to help us, there will be no grangers and there won't be just us-" "If someone bets enough money on a match, they can send out Hunter; the previous teams and victors, as well as all this other bullshit." Michael growled, walking faster and keeping his eyes forward. "The Hunters are exempted from all the rules of the game and given a justified target, but because this is a gambling game, they can kill anyone they fucking feel like. They're made out to be so powerful that anyone who tries to fight them is considered suicidal," Ryan added, striding to keep up with Michael. "But we weren't supposed to be going live yet, we're supposed to have more time-WEEKS of training before we went live."  
"Looks like they're cutting us short." Ray took a deep breath, pushing against Michael and sliding his palm onto the door, flinching as he felt the slight pricking pain of the door approving his blood. They entered to see the other half of their den, already dressed in their suites and waiting patiently. "They've opened the pit!" Gavin squawked. "I know. We just fell through it." Michael replied.  
"Ryan, we're going in in a half an hour." Geoff looked worryingly up at Ryan, wringing his hands subconsciously. Jack sat silently next to him, throwing him a look of concern. "We're going to be fine, Geoff." Ryan comforted him, sitting down on his other side. "Gus and Ester trained us for this. They believe in us." Gus, which Ray hadn't noticed was even here until now, stiffened from where he sat at his desk; his fingers tensed for a moment before returning to the assault on the keyboard. "Some unknown investor made up the difference in ticket sales. It catapulted the schedule forwards and now we have to begin broadcasting by tonight." He rubbed his temples. "Which means you guy's are going to have to train extremely hard in the pit.." Ray didn't bother asking to fill in the blanks, he simply asked: "Who's going in with us?" Gus poked at the keys and pulled up a document. "You are training with team...Tube?" Gus took off his glasses and squinted towards the screen. "Yeah...Team Tube. They were ranked as B class, same as you." Ray snorted, his mind flashing back to the other day, thinking _but, I thought Burnie said we were one of the highest ranking..?_ "We were, then we got the shit beaten out of us in round three." Geoff looked at him. Ray looked at him in utter confusion for a moment, then just decided he was running close to his question limit. "Are they the ones already in there?" Ryan asked. "Yes, they were granted extended time to familiarize themselves with the cave system because two of their den mates are still recovering from injuries."

"That's a bunch of bollocks." Gavin crossed his arms, to which everyone silently agreed. "Regardless, it's what we have to go by," Gus admitted. "You three better get suited up, we have to be at the entrance in fifteen minutes." The three out of uniform nodded, going to change into their suites. Gavin followed them into the other room in claims of being 'bored as dicks', but his stupid grin told everyone otherwise.

"So." Ray slipped the completely white suit top over his head. "Who is Ester?" ...Everyone stopped for a moment, looking towards the closed door in assurance. "Ester was our first trainer," Ryan said in a half whisper. "She found all of us and brought us here," Ray nodded and followed Michael in slipping on his suit bottoms. "What happened to her?"  
"She got sick, no one knows how or what it was, and slipped into a coma," Michael answered, taking a seat next to Gavin so he could slip his boots on. "Been that way for a fuckin' month now." Ray nodded, slipping on his gloves. "And how does Gus know her, were they friends?" Gavin picked at the loose string on his shoulder seem. "She was Gus's wife..." Ray froze and his eyes shifted to the door, breathing a small sigh of security when he saw it was closed. "That's...I'm sorry."  
"He get's paid for every match we win." Ryan sat down beside them all. "..He's pouring all that money on medicine and treatment for her." Ray's eyes dropped to his boots...he can't imagine what Gus was going through. His wife was hospitalized because she got so sick...did he think that it was because of people like him? Did Gus blame them? "I think Gus has taken a liking to us, though." Gavin smiled at Ray. "He doesn't have any kids...so I think he thinks of us as his little tykes."  
"Yeah. If I had us as children, I would be really fucking depressed too." Michael laughed, messing up Gavin's hair and watching him squirm. "Michael, no!"

Ryan smiled and got up, pressing in the neck of his suit and activating it. "Well, let's get out there." Ray got up and headed to the door with the rest of the Lads. Ryan, Gavin, and Michael all sat on the couch with Jack and Geoff; Ray just settled for standing. Gus got up from his desk and went to stand in front of the couch, taking a small cube and placing it on the small fold out table between them. It ticked for a few seconds then projected a hologram into the empty air. "Now, as most of you know, the pit is basically a huge cave system that coils around the facility. You will enter the lower caverns and then proceed to make you're way around. Make sure to move quickly and quietly." The boys all nodded, looking over the map. "This is an elimination match, right?" Jack asked. "Yes, if someone of the other team finds you and calls you out, or you are found by one of the seekers, they will transport you to the entrance of the caverns where you must wait for the rest of your den."

Gus let out a breath of air and looked to his team. "Listen guys...I'm sorry we don't have the time to teach everything you need to know, and I'm sorry I'm not as good of a teacher as Ester would have been...but dammit, I am going to try my hardest to help you all get through this." He ran his hand through his hair. "Gus, stop." Geoff leaned forward. "Don't be sorry. Just because you're not Ester doesn't mean you're any less of a trainer. You've done so much for us and you are the only reason we still qualify for this damn thing." Jack nodded, speaking up as well. "I'm sure I can speak for all of us when I say that we all love having you around." Gus sucked in another deep breath and smiled again. "Thanks, guys...."

Gus's watch illuminated and started a round of beeping. "It's time." Gus glanced down at his watch and turned off the alarm. "Well, great pep talk, I believe in us. Go team!" Ryan rattled off encouragements as he got to his feet. Everyone laughed and got up as well, walking behind Gus as he led them to the pit.

**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx**

The den followed Gus through the long twisted tunnels of the cave which were vaguely illuminated by lights that hanged from the ceiling by wires. "I've never been down here through the natural entrance...it's creepy." Gavin ran his hand over the wall as he walked, feeling it slick with water and what he thought was moss. Ray watched the tunnel get slowly larger until it fed off into a small pocket cavern.

"Achievement Hunter, over here!" Griffon called from the other side of the cave, gesturing them to her. The group marched over to her. Ray watched everyone straighten up and did the same, moving his feet together. "The other team should be here soon," she smiled. "I thought they were in the caves?" Gus tilted his head slightly. "Yes, but they were not in uniform," she answered. Gus nodded and leaned against the damp cave wall. "Relax guys, we have to wait a bit."  
Everyone nodded and gladly slouched back over, meandering around and sitting down just out of Griffon's ear shot. "So, you three already saw what the other team looks like?" Jack whispered. "I didn't. I just heard one of them scream," Ryan said. "I saw a chick with wings," Michael pointed out. "I saw a guy with brown hair," Ray noted. Geoff looked back a Griffon, who was staring at the entrance, the feathers on her wings slightly ruffled. "What do you think they'll do if they catch one of us," he asked. "Probably throw us back to the fucking start like Gus said." Michael replied, resting his head on Ray's shoulder and yawning. "Tired?" Ryan questioned with a smile on his face, Ray chuckled as Michael rolled his eyes. "No, just bored....by the way, Gavin, you need to do some fucking laundry when we get home; the sheets are filthy." Gavin cocked an eyebrow at him and stared for a few seconds before his face lit up with realization. "I AM NOT CLEANING UP YOUR SHAG JUICE, MICOOL!" He yelled a bit too loud, causing mass laughter throughout the group and a very confused look from Gus. "Shag juice?" Ryan repeated through his laughter "That's a new one."   
"Wait, so you actually-did you tape it?" Jack asked, everyone stopped laughing and looked at him. "What? A sex tape would surly get us some fans." He grinned. "Jack continues to crave sex." Geoff smiled and nudged him with an elbow. "Who do you think that's thanks to?" He crossed his arms and looked to Geoff, who stared back at him. "Don't blame me! Gavin's a needy bitch!" Gavin snorted, glaring at Geoff. "What you on about, I haven't been touched in ages!" Ryan raised his hand "I call bullshit."  
"Almost shagging then getting shooed out by Jack because he needs a smegging shower doesn't count!" He argued. "See, this all loops back to you." Geoff looked at Jack and gestured  to Gavin.  Jack opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the scream of "Vad I helvete!?" A blonde boy stumbled into the cavern, looking back. "Hey, don't push me!" His foreign accent was not as apparent as Gavin's, but still noticeable. "You said you wanted to be first." A boy with dark brown hair walked out from behind the cave wall, hands shoved into the pockets of his completely white suit. "So congratulations, you're first." His voice was muffled by the white mask that hid his face, which only consisted of two circles for his eyes and a line across where his mouth would be.

"This is a colorful bunch." Ray whispered as he looked over the rest of the team as they filed in. After the two boys there was also a girl that walked in (Ray noticed she was limping slightly.) with flaxen hair that tumbled past her shoulders and deep brown eyes that searched the room. Her wings were also ruffled. She was followed by two men, one with black glasses and a faux hawk and the other was the brunette man Ray had seen before. Tailing in the back was a boy with wavy purple hair that stuck to the top of his head, hanging off the arm of a broader man that wore the same lab coat as Gus. "This is going to be interesting." Geoff got up and stretched his hands over his head, walking lazily to Gus. "The girl is limping, but where's the other injured one?" Ray asked quietly to Gavin as they got up, the Brit scanned over the other people as they all gathered around Griffon, but couldn't see anything obvious. "No idea." He answered back before Griffon began talking. "Good morning, today we will be teaching you all how to blend and hide from your enemies, as well as the hunters and other things that may be sent after you if your fate calls for it." She smiled, glancing over all the faces. "This is set as a basic team elimination match. You will hide within the caves and do your best to remain undetected. If you are caught by the seekers we sent out to try and find you, you are out. If someone of the opposite team catches you, you are out. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am," everyone collectively murmured. "Good, you will be going in shortly." Griffon nodded. "I will go tell Burnie you are all ready. Good luck." She smiled and walked straight through the small crowd and into the small entrance tunnel. Both teams separated and hung on each side of the small pocket, chatting amongst themselves and occasionally steeling glances at the kids on the other wall.

Gus leaned back against the wall, fully content with not talking to anyone, but he knew that wasn't going to happen when he saw the man the purple haired boy was hanging on coming towards him. "Anxious about the Live date moving up?" He asked, Gus immediately picked up on his English accent. "Who isn't? I personally think sending them out there when they don't know what the hell they're doing is a horribly stupid idea." Gus chuckled, hesitantly holding out his hand. "Gus Sorola." The other man shook his hand and smiled. "Marcus Butler."  Marcus leaned on the wall next to Gus. "Really nerve racking, though...I've been working with them after hours, but I still feel that they are nowhere near ready." Gus nodded, looking slowly between the two teams. "If they can work as a team, they will be fine." He assured him.  "I surely hope so." Marcus smiled. "They'll need each other..."

Gavin leaned back slightly and looked over Ryan's shoulder at the other team. The man with the white mask was staring at him again. "That bloke with the mask keeps staring at me!" He shrunk and hid in front of Ryan, who cocked an eyebrow at him. "He's wearing a mask, how do you know where he's looking?"  
"I can _feel_ it!" The Brit whined, peeking at the boy again and seeing he hasn't moved. "I think you're just being paranoid." Jack grabbed the back of Gavin's suit and pulled him up right. "Just relax."

"ALL TEAMS IN THE ENTRANCE, PLEASE ENTER THE CAVE," Burnie's voice boomed out of the caves speaker system, making everyone jump as his voice bounced around the pocket. "Does that man ever not fucking yell?" Michael rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and stuck his fingers in his ears "He's an announcer, yelling is his job." Geoff mocked as everyone made their way into the cave. Ray felt himself being pushed against the people on either side of him as the tunnel slowly decreased in size. "Alright, who's hand is that!?"  the purple haired boy's head whipped around. "Sorry." the man with the faux hawk replied. The light bulbs slowly spaced out until there was not light at all. Everyone blinked and let their eyes adjust to the darkness. Burnie's voice's rings out. "Alright, listen up! The first part of your stealth training is determining the best spots to evade the enemy. To make sure you get the full benefits of this exercise we have already dispersed the seekers into the cave. You must do your best to keep away and hide from them. If you are caught, you will be chastised. If you are caught hiding with a team mate; your den will be disqualified. That being said, have fun, and don't forget to run. GO!" His voice came back seconds later, slightly softer. "Griffon, coffee, now!"

Both teams took off a dead sprint, each member barking orders at one another in panic. People began to disappear into the side tunnels and the group got smaller and smaller until Ray found he was running by himself...he skidded to a stop and looked around, the only noise he heard was that of his own panting. He listened as hard as he could, but heard nothing. He crouched low, trying to think of what to do. He called back the memories of being a street rat, remembering all the times he had hidden from shop owners he had stolen food from. He had to find a deep ridge to hide in, or a fold in the wall to compress himself into. He slowly crept down the tunnel, keeping one hand pressed against the cave wall for the first chance to turn. He tensed into a panic as he heard someone scream in surprise and then scream again in pain. His hand slipped away into a gap and he took it, swirling around the corner and quickly pressing himself as hard as he could against the wall. "One of Tube has been eliminated!"  
"Shit!" He whispered, taking off down the tunnel. Hide, hide, he had to hide! He was just about to make another turn when someone stuck their foot out and tripped him, clasping their hand over his mouth before he could yell and pulling him against the cave wall. "Shut the fuck up!' Geoff whispered into his ear. "It's me!" Ray stopped struggling and leaned into him, taking in the small comfort of having him nearby. Geoff let his hand slip away. "We can't hide together." Ray replied quietly. "We're not. I just stopped you from running around like an asshole." Geoff said honestly. "What should I do?" Ray enquired, closing his eyes briefly. "Just down the tunnel and to the right is another small cavern, they have plenty of hidey-holes and shit for you to duck into-" His hands tensed and wrapped around his shoulders. "Someone's coming, don't move." He let his chin rest against Ray's head and thought of emptiness, nothingness, absolute silence. Putting all of his focus into the illusion of empty space. Ray kept as still as he could as he saw someone drawing near, holding something in his hand that glowed in a very faint green tone. Ray pressed himself further into Geoff, laying his palms flat against the cave walls. The woman, who was dressed entirely in black, walked cautiously their way, her blue-ish gray eyes glancing around the walls and the ceiling. She stilled when she came to where Ray and Geoff where pressed against the limestone, squinting at them. Ray held his breath and felt Geoff tense. Please work, Ray pleaded silently, _please!_   "Strashniya! Have you found one?" A giggly voice whispered behind her. The woman whipped around and shushed her. " **BE QUIET!** I think there is one near by." The second figure rolled her eyes and pushed past her. "Come on, I can smell 'em!" She whirled her stick around her hand, which caused it to light up and surge with electricity. The blue eyed girl watched her go and sighed. "Idiot," and followed her down the tunnel. When they disappeared from sight Geoff and Ray both let out a breath and relaxed. "Oh my god, I love idiots." Geoff laughed quietly. Ray chuckled as well and brought his hands back to rest on Geoff's arms. "Geoff, you are the best."

"Ok, now what?" Ray asked sarcastically. "Well, you need to find your little ass a place to hide." Geoff slid his hands down Ray's shoulders and onto his waist, giving them a firm squeeze. "Otherwise you might get us both in trouble.~" Ray gasped quietly, sliding away from his touch and hoping it was too dark to see his blush. "Geoff, you perv!" He chuckled nervously. "Please, you're the one pressing against me like you need a good pounding." Geoff brought his hands up and made a shooing motion. Ray rolled his eyes and pushed on the way he came, 'Alright,' he thought 'Hiding....let's do this." He listened to another faint scream in the distance, sighing at Burnie's words. "One of Achievement Hunter has been eliminated!"

**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx**

  
Gavin took in sharp, panicked breaths. He heard Ryan's pained screams above him followed by a flash of green light. "Ryan, no." He whispered, slinking against the wall as he tried to escape the sound of footsteps. He had time cut in half but some man in all black still managed to keep up with him, speeding along the tunnel above him and cackling in a deep voice. "I can smell you!"  
Gavin ran into an intersection of three tunnels, looking between them frantically before dashing into the rightmost one. He forced himself to run faster and faster, the mere thought of someone matching his speed sent him into a panic attack.  **SMACK!**  His head hit something hard and he was catapulted back into reality, smashing against the cave's floor. He opened his eyes and stared through blurred vision as the white masked boy propped himself on his elbows and rubbed his head. "It's you!" Gavin squeaked. The boy put his index finger over the line on his mask. "Shh! He'll hear us!" Gavin immediately closed his mouth, whispering. "Who?" The masked boy pointed up towards the ceiling. "Moter Mouth up there."

The footsteps sailed right over them and continued down, the man's pointless babbling following behind him, though the words were unrecognizable to the two. "Wait...aren't we supposed to be out?" Gavin asked, getting to his feet. The brunette did the same. "Yeah, listen. I want my team to win as much as the next guy, but I don't think I want whatever that was coming down here." Gavin nodded. "That's something we can both agree on." He looked the boy over once more...he didn't seem hostile, but you couldn't really tell through his white suit and mask that really didn't give Gavin anything to work with. Despite his better judgment, he hesitantly stuck out his hand. "...my name's Gavin." The masked boy stared down at his hand for a few seconds, grasping it and shaking it firmly. "Cry."

**XxXxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx**

Ray closed his eyes again and listened. There had been three more screams and announcements (Two for Tube, one for Achievement Hunter) since he had liquefied and hollowed out the inside of the stalagmite he was currently curled up inside of. He had also heard several sets of voices and footsteps pass by him but he hasn't been able to determine if any of them are friend or pho. What really caught his attention was the footsteps that ran in here and didn't leave, Ray could hear him breathing heavily as he leaned against his stalagmite. Definitely not an Achievement Hunter. "This formation is _not_ big enough for two" Ray whispered to himself and heated up his palm, smacking it against the stalagmite's inner wall. The man yelped and jumped off the stalagmite. metal footsteps starting to close in on where they were, causing both boys to freeze. The man pressed himself back up against the stalagmite, taking deep breaths to get through the pain of Ray's burning hands.

"Here, little siren." A deep voice cooed. Ray tilted his head slightly and pressed his ear against the wall. A _siren_? Like the mermaid things? The man on the other side of the wall shifted and Ray could here his fast breathing. "..Come...me" He heard a faint voice call. He forced himself to listen closer, which was a big mistake.

"Come on I  need a hero  
Come and save me."

His voice was a singing whisper, but to Ray it spoke volumes. As the words came from his mouth it was like what happened to him with Geoff. The words sank into his muscle and forced them to move, contracting and relaxing in a way that moved his hand out of the small hole he had made to get into the stalagmite.

"Something tells me you know how to save me  
I've been feeling scared now.  
Oh, I need you, to come and rescue me."

Ray's mind clouded as his hand wrapped around the man's wrist and pulled him down, dragging him through the hole and pushing him against the wall of the formation. "Oh my god, I knew you were in here!" The voice whispered happily. "Who?" His own voice sounded so foreign to him that it pulled him out of his trance-like state. Ray shook his head and met eyes with the same brunet he saw in the tunnel this morning. "What the fuck did you do to me!?" Ray whispered angrily, "Sorry, I panicked!" The boy smiled apologetically, flinching as the footprints drew near.  They listened as the man walked all around the room, stopping for a second then walking to another point. Ray waited quietly, not too thrilled to in danger of elimination because of some person on the opposite team who couldn't hide themselves. "..What's your name?" The brunet asked quietly, smiling at him. Was this kid for real? "I-My name is Ray, now shut-"There was a loud crack and the top half of their stalagmite was torn away. Both boys looked up to see the girl in all black with the blue eyes, the other half of the formation was held in her leg. "Part of _hiding_ is being QUIET!" She chuckled down at the frozen boys, smiling as she took her green wand off her belt, dropping it in between them. "Better luck next time."  
The wand light up and shocked the two guys, sending their bodies into painful convulsions. Ray yelled loudly and folded into himself. This was the same immense pain he had felt in the chamber he was in for his basic mold, the shocking buzz was  _deafening_! It seemed to go on for ever as the woman laughed in the background. Ray forced his eyes open just in time to see the light overtake him...and then he was gone.

The next thing he knew, he was standing at the cave entrance, looking into the tunnel, feeling the cold air push past his face..."...Well, I'm Toby, Toby Turner." Ray's head turned. The brunet was standing beside him, turning to face him. "and, just in case you didn't know, I'm a siren." Ray smiled and held out his hand. Toby smiled back and took it, they shook and Toby felt his hand start to burn. "Ray Narvaez, fire elemental." He grinned, letting his hand go. Toby rubbed his hand. "I really am sorry." He shrugged. Ray sighed and leaned back on his heels. "Listen, it's fine. I'm sure we were going to get got anyway."  
Toby nodded. "Thanks for not ratting me out though." Someone called his name and he turned around to see the blonde and the boy with the faux hawk waving at him. "I gotta go. Nice meeting you though, good people are hard to find here!" He chuckled and waves, turning around and jogging over to his den mates.

Ray looked across the pocket cavern, spotting Ryan and walking over to him. "Sup, Ry-bread?" He smiled and sat down next to him. "Just sitting here wallowing in self pity, you?" Ryan smiled. "You're the portal guy, how'd you get tagged?" Ray tilted his head. "Gavin started panicking and followed me, I ended up pushing him down a hole to get away from the seekers and got a chastisement wand to the back."  
"Is that what those things are!?" Ray's eyes widened slightly. "Those things fucking hurt!" Ryan laughed, clasping a hand on his shoulder. "Well you won't fuck up again, will you?" They both laughed and listened to another announcement. "Another of Team Achievement Hunter!" there was another loud crack of light and instead of a player a brown bear came into view. It roared loudly into the cave and growled as it turned around, looking at the terrified faces of the three on the other team and sitting down next to Ray. "I hate this fucking training." Michael's voice came from the bear. Ray chuckled and pet his head, leaning in on him slightly. "What happened to you?" Ryan asked. "This tall motherfucker wasn't too happy when he found me and I decided his face needed some claw marks." He sighed and slowly changed back into his human form, not bothering to stop Ray from petting him.

The trio watched as everyone else was slowly found. It continued with the winged girl, then Geoff, then the purple haired boy, then Jack, but then a long wait came. Everyone found themselves slowly becoming more and more on edge, silently praying that the other team's player comes out first. "How the fuck has Gavin stayed in there this long?" Michael asked to Geoff, who replied. "I don't know, maybe he just fell down the pit and died." They waited, and waited. Until finally, Burnie's voice  came back. "And the winner is..." The flash of light came and everyone leaned forward. When it slowly diminished Gavin was left in it's wake. "TEAM TUBE!" The Tube team whooped and hollered as they watched the second bolt of light bring Cry to them and they all gathered around them. Gavin hung his head and dragged his feet over to his team. "Guys, I'm really sorry." He mumbled. "Are you kidding!?" Ray yelled, watching Gavin's head snap up. "You survived way longer then any of us, that's fucking impressive!" Gavin smiled slightly at the rest of his den, who all agreed. "If we can survive that long by ourselves, then we can definitely get through anything together." Jack laughed. 

"Congratulations! Now, if you will please follow you're trainers back to your den, they will remind you on what you will need to know for your match today."

 

Everyone stopped and looked up at the speaker system..

 

They didn't hear anything about a match today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD, ALL THE REFERENCES!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Hope you all liked it!
> 
> I'm going back to school soon, so my schedule should return to normal and I will be able to get my chapters out on time.
> 
> THANKS FOR BEING PATENT WITH ME, I LOVE YOU  
> K-BYE!


	8. Welcome To The Horror Show! pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray and his rag tag bunch of friends/people who didn't kill him for stealing their shit are about to enter their first REAL match of the Under Games!
> 
>  
> 
> But did any of them really sign up for something like this!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!!! *Bows and sobs*
> 
> SOOOOOOO, I KNOW THIS IS THE LATEST OF LATE, BUT GET THIS:
> 
> School's a bottom bitch.
> 
>  
> 
> Hopefully now I will have more time and get back on track!  
> THANK YOU FOR NOT GIVING UP ON ME
> 
>  
> 
> HAPPY READING

"For this match, there will be no grangers." Gus warned.

"The only _way_ to be eliminated is death, I want all of you to stick together and work as a team. Do NOT seperate from each other. If you all really must split up, I want you to stay In groups of at least two."

Ray did his best to soak in all the information, his brain working rapidly to play out possible outcomes in his head. "-and if they do send a Hunter in, which is becoming very real at this point. hide. Hide together and do not come out for anything!-" His intense, slightly panicked voice gave way to cracking glass.

"Gus!" Gavin yelled, snapping their trainer out of his rambling state. He looked down at his hands. He had dug his fingernails into his palms and forced his glass stress balls to break, lodging shards into his palms, which were now bleeding. "I-I'm sorry." He relaxed his hands. keeping his head down. "You guys shouldn't be doing this; you haven't been trained long enough, you haven't had the time..." His voice trailed off. He looked back quickly at his first days taking the place of his wife. He had tried hard to make sure all the guys liked him, so a lot of their time was slacking instead of much needed training.

"Gus," Michael prompted. "We will be fine, we can handle whatever comes our way."

"We won't let you down!" Ray assured

"I understand that guys, but-"

"Yeah," Geoff agreed, crossing his arms and looking slightly off-put. "No one can get passed us except us!"

"As confusing as that statement is, I agree!" Ryan persisted, laughing slightly.

"Guys!-" Gus tried to speak.

"Yeah, don't say we can't do this!" Gavin piped.

 **"I'M NOT SAYING YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"** Gus suddenly screamed, effectively silencing them all and making everyone recoil. "What I'm trying to say...is that I don't want to loose anyone else." He looked over them all with eyes of stone. His hands were laid out flat over the desk, smearing the glass shards with blood. "So, please, be careful." 

Everyone slowly nodded. Jack got up and went into the other room to get bandages. "As I was saying," Gus continued carefully. "This map is going to be a bit like the last one, but this terrain will be a bit more drastic. If you receive any pods from sponsors, I highly suggest you use them. Do not hesitate to engage the enemy when they find you." Gus looked over the table of blank faces...

"And...do not hesitate to win." Gus smiled slightly, which spread to everyone else as they looked back to him. This is what they needed, praise and incentive. " Make me proud and I'll buy you all a round of drinks when you get back." Gus's smile brightened. Everyone laughed and cheered, getting to their feet. Jack came back and helped Gus with his hands. "Did I miss something?" He asked. "Only my sole reason for winning this match!" Geoff joked and stretched his hands over his head.

"Attention all teams: Report to the training room in fifteen minutes!" Griffon's voice flooded the room. Her admittedly sweet voice slightly clouded by the metallic clang of the old speakers.

"Are you all ready?" Gus asked. "We're already in our suits," Ryan pointed out. "There's usually not much prep work past that, considering we're never here early enough for pit training."

 

"Then let's have a pre-games bev!" Gavin prompted happily. Everyone seemed to think it was a good idea. Gus reached under his desk and pulled out a bottle of vodka he had been keeping there ever since he started.

He popped it open and took a big swig before passing it to Geoff who did the same thing. It went to Jack who did a smaller take and then to Ryan, who took a small sip and got a boo from Michael. Ryan passed it to Gavin and he tried to take a big gulp like Gus and Geoff but only succeeded on almost choking on it before just giving it up to Michael. The beast boy managed to take the big lot Gavin had failed and tossed the bottle to Ray.

"Do you even drink?" Geoff asked teasingly.

"Not since today," Ray smirked and raised the bottle to his lips, taking a big gulp and then another for good luck. His days on the streets taught him the effects of liquor and all the reasons he never wanted to drink, but the day he might die seemed to be a good enough reason to at least taste it. And while he did like the way the thick liquid flowed down his slightly burning throat and warmed his stomach, it wasn't a feeling he wanted to get used to.

"The first time this guy takes a drink and he go's all in...that's my kinda man!" Geoff chuckled and snagged the bottle again for another drink. Ray whiped his mouth and smiled. "I aim to impress."

 

"Ok, so that wasted about five minutes," Gus chuckled, shrugging at his clock.

"Let's just give up and head down there." Jack smiled and snatched the bottle from where it was rotating between Geoff and Michael. "The last thing we need is having you two impaired while someone is trying to cut your freaking heads off." The two huffed at him in a childish manor. 

Geoff went back to where he was leaning on the couch and Michael went and wrapped himself around Ray's arm. "What the fuck is his problem?" Michael mumbled into the fabric of Ray's suit. "Just getting a little buzzed."  Ray smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, you did just go from 'so ready to kill' to a oddly snuggly...whatever you are." Michael lifted his head up to argue, but just stared up at him. "...Maybe you're right." They both smiled and Gavin let out a small 'awww'. "You two are just a mush." He giggled, pretending to take pictures with his fingers "It's adorable!"

Michael stuck his tongue out at the Brit, Ray grinned. "Gavin, if you really want. I'm sure this mush could harden up for you." Michael adopted his grin as well as a devilish giggle. Gavin's eyes widened as he blushed. "W-what? Guys, we need to focus on the match." He quickly changed the subject and looked away, obviously thinking twice.

"Ok." Michael unraveled himself from Ray and stepped towards Gavin, poking his nose. "Just remember, Gavvy, we know where you sleep."

 

"Guys, stop molesting Gavin." Ryan chuckled as the Brit scurried over to him and hid behind him.

"Aww, but it's so easy!" Michael laughed.

"Come on, let's go." Gus grabbed a few things and gestured towards the door for everyone to follow, which they did.

 

**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx**

 

The hallways had hyped up like the day of their first matches, so they had to push past people, stop for a few pictures and autographs from squealing girls, and fight the crowd to get to where they were going.

Gus pushed past the double doors into the training room. Ray immediately noticed that all the trainers were with their teams.

"Ray!" A voice shouted from the left side of the room. Ray's head turned to see Toby, who was waving at him with a dumb smile that seemed familiar. 

"Wow, he reminds me of Gavin," Michael commented as Ray waved back weakly. Gavin didn't bother to try and fight Michael's opinion as he had a stare down (or, at least, he think he was staring)  with Cry as they passed. Gus kept his eyes locked on the other end of the room, looking for Griffon. The room was filled with an electric anxiety that put the team on edge.

"I hope we get out of this room soon." Gus mumbled back to his students. "All these voices are starting to give me a headache."

The team found a small nook between team Ruby and another C ranked team. Ray looked over the faces of the rejuvenated team who was silent, their features set intently on the big double doors Burnie would emerge out of for another pointless pep talk before the matches started.

 _"Pssst, Ray!"_ Kerry's voice whispered to him from somewhere. Ray looked questioningly at the boy who's mouth was closed and eyes were forward. _"On the back wall,"_ he hinted, jerking his head slightly and hiding it with a cough and earning a chastising glare from Lindsay. Ray followed his gesture to the wall where a stretch of shadow shook slightly as it laid on the wall. He causally leaned against the wall next to it, eyes shifting over the boy's team to make sure they weren't looking. "Aren't you just full of surprises," He chuckled.

_"I'm not really good at this kinda trick, so I'm going to make this quick. Hopefully we both make it though this and get to that dinner you worked out of me. Do you know who you're up against?"_

"I have a  hunch that it's team Tube, they made it pretty clear we were going go see each other again when we were in the pit" Ray glanced back at his own team that was arguing over something he couldn't hear over the roar of all the other arguments in the room.

" _Really? Shit; watch out for the guy with the faux hawk."_ Kerry's face tensed in pain and the shadow decreased in size slightly.

"Tell Joel that Geoff says it's a double date with you guys." Geoff interrupted, leaning next to Ray with a grin. "You guy's aren't exactly the sneakiest pair." 

 

 _"Will do, gotta go. Good luck."_  Kerry's face twisted into a more pained look.

"Stay safe." Ray smiled as he watched the shadow thankfully slip back under the feet of the other team and Kerry let out a held in breath of relief, nudging Joel and whispering something in his ear.

"Good, now I get more drinks." Geoff chuckled.

"That's if we win," Ray commented absent mindedly and then bit his tongue at his own pessimistic tone.

"We'll be fine," Geoff prompted, nudging him. "We've got Mr. Crazy, Unstoppable, Not too sneaky Fire Lord on our team now!" Ray smiled softly up at Geoff. "Yeah, but...What if I'm not all I'm cracked up to be?"

Geoff returned the smile, running a hand through his hair. "That's when we come in."

Ray grinned and swatted his hand away, fixing his hair. This was the first time he had seen Geoff act sort of fatherly, it kind of suited him. "Now come on, let's go see what the dickheads want to do for a plan." Geoff pushed himself off of the wall and walked over towards the group of boys, Ray on his heels.

"Listen, the best thing we can do is stick to the high ground!" Jack crossed his arms over his chest and glared down slightly at Gavin, who stomped his foot and huffed. "That's stupid! Do you want those Hunter pricks to find us? We need to stay low and hide!"

Michael snorted at both of them. "No, you guys are both fucking wrong! We need to take out the other team as soon as fuckin possible. The faster we take care of them the faster the match ends!"

Geoff stopped next to Ryan, who was rubbing his temples impatiently. "Geeeooff, make them stop!" he whined in a exaggerated tone.

"All of you need to shut it for a moment and listen!" Geoff barked over them with that penetrating tone. Their overtaken eyes snapped to attention as they all turned to face him, faces like the ones of chastised children.

"Killing off the opposite team is our main goal, we will not run in like blind assholes" Geoff's parented gaze fell on Michael, making him sink back on his heels. "We will not be safe on high ground if they have a fucking girl with WINGS in on their team." His eyes shifted to Jack, who looked at the floor in submission. "-And we will not hide like pussys and throw away a good ranking because of a possibility." He finished with a stern look at Gavin. He looked up at him apologetically and leaned back slightly. It was another taste of Geoff's leadership. Ray found himself drawn to the feeling Geoff's tone gave him, the feeling of order and...possibly attraction.

Geoff looked back at Ray and saw his eyes slightly clouded, a slight smile curled onto his bitten lips. The older male threw on a cocky smirk and winked back at him before returning to the other three.

"I say we employ the strategy that we had in the elimination matches. We lure them back to our side and finish them off there." Jack finally looked back up, cheeks gaining more confident color. "Gus said we should stick together."

"He said stick together if we can, and we will. I got a plan." Geoff finished his sentence just in time to not get interrupted by a very loud Burnie.

"ALRIGHT, INTO FORMATION!"

 

All the teams took off into a dead sprint to get into line up. Ryan took Ray's hand and flung him into the middle of their den so he could follow Geoff into their new line up order.

"Today's the big day!" He yelled into the now silent room, annoyingly eyeing the last people scrambling to their teams.

"Now, I know that, yes, your training has been cut short...and, yes, you're all probably very scared." The comment earned him snickers and rolled eyes. "But, I have the utmost confidence in your ability and determination! This is a big day for all of us, this is the day you show the world what our kind can do!"

The line let out a few whoops and hollers that mostly gravitated from the rowdy C ranked teams. "We are live in fifteen minutes. I will expect you all to be ready by then." Burnie folded his hands behind his back, glancing from the teams to their trainers who were all lent up against the opposite wall, exchanging papers and clip boards with Griffon. "Your trainers have been given the room number that you will be prepped in. I suggest you get there Immediately."

 

"DISSMISSED!"

 

**XxXxXxXx68INDESTRIESXxXxXxXx**

 

Geoff threw open the pair of big double doors to the room they were assigned. It was like the old armory they had been in on the first day, but smaller. "What time slot are we going on?" Ryan asked to Gus, who kept his eyes on the paper he'd been given. "You're all going on at the same time."

Ray cocked an eyebrow. "How're the people supposed to watch all of us?"

"It's called flipping channels, you smeg!" Gavin giggled.

"No FUKCING WAY! We've already got pods!" Michael's face lit up and he ran towards the table in the middle of the room like a child on Christmas morning, scanning eagerly over the pods.

"Gee, I wonder why?" Geoff said sarcastically before making exaggerated kissing noises over to Ray and going to stand next to Gus. Everyone else gathered around the table as Gus picked up the first pod and read the small inscription edged into it.

"This one's for Michael." He tossed the pod over the table to Michael, who snatched it out of the air with one hand and twisted it open with the other. He pulled out what seemed to be a section of green pipe and a note. _"Push the black button in the middle to activate, I better see another kiss cam at the end, you're welcome. -Sarah, head engineer at Anshin."_

 

His eyes widened, upon pushing the button the section of pipe expanded to a staff and twin obsidian blades shot out of each end with a satisfying 'SHINK'

 

 

"Holy shit!" He laughed and plunged the bottom blade into the ground, watching it sink smoothly into the wooden floor as if it were butter.

"Wouldn't trust him with a ballpoint pen but now he has a _**bladed staff**_...yeah, great," Ryan mumbled as Gus picked up the next pod.

 

"Next one goes to Jack." He handed him the pod. Jack opened it and turned it over, almost jumping when six seeds hit his skin. He picked the note up and read it as he slowly curled the seeds in his hand.

 

  _"two Welwitschia mirabilis', two Dionaea muscipulas, and two Amorphophallus titanums courtesy of  Rotted Amazon Exotic Plants, use them well. -Leo."_

Jack smiled widely up at his team's confused faces. "Yeah, we're going to win now." He chuckled as Gus picked up the last two pods and read their inscriptions. "And the last two are for Ray." He handed the pods to Ray.

"Why does Ray get two?" Gavin pouted.

 

Ray put the smaller pod on the table and opened up the larger one, inside were six small daggers, each piece of black ebony held a small tube of something scarlet.

"Oh my fucking god." Geoff stepped forward and snatched a dagger from the tube, twirling it around in his hand in awe. "These are Maliwan'68 Thunder Blades!"

Ray plucked the note from the tube and also took a blade to hold in his hand, glancing questionably at it when he felt the prick of his element deep inside the blade. _"Highly tuned to fit a fire elemental, these blades are laced with acetylene and ethylene which will spray and cover the blade when the element is activated. Basically all your fire bending needs with the effectiveness of a sharp as dicks cutting blade. Just make sure to get the knives in the picture next time you and your boyfriend decide to make out on the battleground, 'Kay?~ -Maddalin, heir to Maliwan Weaponry Incorporated."_

Ray looked back to the dagger and focused on the feeling he had felt before. He felt his hand slick as the knife caught flame, slowly lifting off of his hand and twirling around widely in a ball of color changing fire that gave off sparkling embers like that of a firework.

"Well that's...menacing." Jack took a step towards Ryan, clutching his seeds protectively. "And he still has one more to open," Ryan reminded him. Ray sheathed his new weapons (they came with a gauntlet that he dawned on his left arm) and took the second pod, opening it up hesitantly. At first it looked like there was nothing inside. Ray tipped the tube over and shook it, surprised that a pair of black semi thick rimmed glasses fell into his hand. Everyone quieted down as the boy slowly put the glasses on his face, looking around and then reading the small note that was in there. He stared at the enlarged letters, awed at how his vision improved. _"I noticed some things to suggest that you might be in need of glasses, hope these help. -Dr. Egon."_

 

Ray looked up and blinked at his den mates. He was surprised how detailed his new world was. "I mean, I knew I had some sight problems, but I didn't know I had it that bad." He chuckled and pushed his frames up the bridge of his nose, everyone laughed too.

 

"Don't worry, you do look ridicules." Gavin teased.

"All teams, please conclude all preparations and move to your pods, thank you!" Griffin announced over the speaker system.

"Guess it's our time to shine." Geoff rolled his eyes to the ceiling. Gus nodded and scurried over to open the smaller doors to the pods. "You guys got this," he assured as the den stumbled into the room.

Ray looked around the room, a smaller version of the room they were first in.

"So...we get to play the pod sorting game now?" Ryan focused his half lidded eyes back on the group. Michael grabbed Ray by the arm and yanked him towards the middle pod, talking over his shoulder. "Nope."

Jack chuckled and nudged Geoff. "Come on, we've got a match to win." Geoff smiled and leaned into him as they walked to the pod on the left. Ryan looked down at Gavin, who was already staring at him...

 

"...Look, about the bathroom yesterday-"

"Shut it." Gavin rolled his eyes and grabbed Ryan's hand, pulling him into the right pod. Everyone climbed in and waited for the pods to start moving.

Michael twirled his staff over his hand and watched Ray fiddle with his new daggers. "So...people really like... 'us'?" his cheeks slightly tinted, he felt like he had to ask, just to make sure this was real. "It looks like it." Ray made vague gesture to their new weapons. Michael nodded and looked over to Jack. He was picking out seeds and talking to Geoff who smiled and nodded to him, but Ray could feel his need for the match to start.

Luck was on Geoff's side because the pods sprang to life and began pulling the players to the game board. Michael and Ray watched as the tunnel of darkness slowly swallowed them whole.

There was a few seconds of much welcomed bliss and for a second the boys had thought the elevator had stopped. They were immediately disproved when waves of immense cold racked their bodies, sending them both into an attack of violent shivers as they folded into themselves.

"H-h-holy shit.~" Michael muttered through chattering teeth. Ray tried to exhale a flame for warmth, but his mouth only emitted a clack that was his element refusing to leave his body. Whatever type of harsh environment this was, it was making it hard for him to use his inner fire. The dark walls slowly dissolved into icy winds that whipped past their ears and bit into their skin, their eyes straining to see past the waves of snow flakes three feet in front of them hurtling all around. Ray felt around blindly until he found Michael's shivering form, pulling him in close and trying his best to warm his body and transfer some heat to the other boy. 

"Hello and welcome to the 10th annual live broadcasting of the Under Games!" 

Burnie's voice cut sharp and clear through the snow. "I am your humble host, Burnie Burns, with my co-host for this match, the lovely Griffon!" The crowd roared, though the team could barely make out the people from the roar of the winds.

"Boy, do we have a interesting death match for you all today! For our first team, we have..." Griffon's smiling face and over sized wings weren't there to greet the den this time. The cold metal balls whizzed mercilessly past the nearly blind team and sank into the snow pile just in front of them and shot back out with lighting speed, positioning themselves in front of each pair of den mates.

 

"TEAM ACHIEVEMENT HUNTER; RANK B, 5TH POSITION." 

Burnie's sharp tongue made the snow cease it's assault on the team, the snow flakes hung still in the air and the cold chill pressed on their skin but didn't rip past it anymore. Ray would have sworn time had stopped if he had not seen Gavin slowly wrap himself around Ryan's arm over Michael's frosted curls. In another swift and painful movement the wind retreated upwards and compressed into a small ball that twirled widely in Lindsay's palm. Michael looked up at the Red head and snarled, "Great, so she's putting in hours? Fucking bitch."

Ray wanted to know what he was talking about, but decided just to add it to his list of things he was going to ask Kerry about tonight and focused on keeping his temperature high.

He followed Lindsay's gaze to the big screen where his teams names and stats rolled across the screen as the camera panned a wide shot that ended with the image of Ray and Michael in their tight embrace. "And it looks like the cold isn't chilling this heated passion," Griffon cooed with the people's affectionate hollers.

Ray opened his mouth for a snarky remark but was caught off guard when suddenly Michael leaned his head up and kissed him, taking his gauntlet hand and bringing it up to cup his freckled cheek. The masses cheered louder as Ray tilted his head to kiss back. Michael broke the lip lock and leaned his forehead against Ray's. "Maybe our new found popularity can help get us some more 'presents'." He smiled and drummed his fingers over the soft leather on Ray's gauntlet, making him smile. "Clever boy."

"Ooooh, love on the battlefield!" Geoff yelled loudly over to the pair. "Shut the fuck up!" Michael yelled back, a clear smile on his face.

"VS!"

The stands quieted down as the screen split in half and the picture slowly came into view. It was the blonde they had seen earlier in their training, who was clutching the bird girl to his chest. 

"TEAM TUBE; RANK B, 2ND POSITION!"

Lindsay wrenched her fist Into the sky and tamed the storm back into her control, revealing the odd looking team as they looked around then up to the screen. Ray immediately recognized Toby, who shuffled his feet awkwardly in the snow up to a camera, poking it with his index finger and then giving it a small wave and smile which earned a few awws from the bleachers.

Ray couldn't tell if he was playing at sweet and ignorant or if he really didn't know what the cameras were hooked up to. The two teams gave each other once overs via the screen and slowly returned their gaze back to their own groups.

"Team Achievement Hunter, are you ready?" Burnie challenged.

Michael chose to answer him. He took his staff and slammed the button into the almost frozen pipe, twirling it three times around his hand before plunging the blade into the snow, letting out a loud crack from him breaking the now apparent ice and roaring like an angry tiger. The crowd behind him lit up in a violent ruckus to emphasize his point, whooping and hollering and continuing on. Burnie smirked at him and turned his attention to the other team.

"Team Tube, are you ready?"

Toby took a step forward and his face instantly changed when he spoke. "Team Slayer. Round: begin. Ready? Play."

His voice echoed crisp and clear all the way to Achievement Hunter's side if the arena. He sounded like the announcer you'd find in the Halo games. The crowd on his side of the map yelled at the tops of their lungs like they'd be executed if they weren't louder then the other side. Burnie laughed heartily to himself and looked out to the crowds. "Well, you heard the man, let the games begin!"

The starting horn blared deeply through the arena, signaling the beginning of the match. Jack was about to drop one of his seeds when Geoff caught his arm. "Let's see what we're up against," he prompted.

Achievement Hunter made no moves towards the frosted forests in front of them. Instead they watched their opponents closely over the jumbo screen as they huddled close and whispered to one another. "Interesting. It seems that Achievement Hunter is letting Tube take the first turn." Burnie watched intently as the other team planned carefully. "What will Tube do with the opening pressure?"

Ray looked up at Toby's devilish smirk and nod over the screen and he was pretty sure that he didn't feel the pressure. A few seconds more and the team broke and got into what looked like a pretty practiced formation.

Ray's eyes narrowed as he watched the scene over the giant screen...what were these people up to?

 

**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTIRIESXxXxXxXx**

 Markiplier cracked his knuckles, looking back up at his team. "So, anyone got a plan?"

"It's exactly what Marcus said," Felix answered before anyone could get the word out. "Force them to split up and then take them out individually."

"Yeah, but how do we know that we can get them apart at all?" Mark retorted, looking back to the vast winter forest.

"We're going to make them!" Tyler answered with a demand in his voice, flipping a lylack lock out of his face. "We have to if we want to take them out without getting anyone hurt, and I will NOT fill my body with that chemical healing slop again."

 Toby silenced the group with a wave of his hand. "If there is one thing we've been taught since we came here, it's that it's not just about eliminating your enemies. If we want to get through these games, we need sponsors. How do we get sponsors?" Toby asked vaguely, as if talking to small children, leaving Cry to answer in a grimly honest voice. "We keep them entertained."

Toby smiled and nodded to Cry. "Right! So I think we need to spice things up again...let's split up!"

Felix snorted and shot wide eyes at Toby. "You're crazy! The second we do they'll send out a hunter or a ravager or some shit!" Marzia nodded in agreement. It didn't surprise anyone though. She was always on his side.

"How about this: If they do call something out, we'll meet up on Mark's position and head back to our side of the map," Toby prompted, looking to Mark for back up. Mark met his gaze and bit his lip before returning his sight to the group. He really hated how he was always the fall back man. 

"It's not a very well thought out plan, but it IS a plan and we're running out of time." He gestured up to the screen. Michael was glaring into the forest and Gavin was starting to move back and forth on his feet impatiently.

"I saw that spiky haired guy in the pit: the instant their leader lets him off the leash he'll be here in seconds." Tyler mimicked Gavin's uncomfortable shuffle. "And it's so FUCKING cold, we'll freeze to death before the round is over!" 

"Mark could string our DNA when we get out there." Cry looked to Mark, who nodded. "If someone can keep everyone away from me, then I can get it done."

"Then it's settled, BREAK!" Toby smiled. The huddle broke up and he walked in front of the group. "Tyler, Felix, Cry. Your job is to cover as much ground as you can, intercept their team, split them, and get them far away from each other. Marzia, you get up and tell us what we're looking at. Mark, you do your thing and get moving as soon as you're done. got it?  
  
"Got it." Tyler nudged Felix to get moving as he faced the left, Felix rolled his eyes and kept to the edge of the arena, Toby to the middle, Cry to the right. "Go!" Toby yelled. The men took off into a dead sprint into the forest, going as fast as the snowy ground would let them into the large grouping of trees.

Marzia plucked a small feather from her over sized wings and handed it to Mark before stretching them out and taking off into the now clear sky. Mark sat down in the now emptied clearing and pulled his legs into a criss-cross position, taking the feather and clasping it firmly between his hands. He waited a few seconds before slowly pulling his hands away and consuming the feather in a ball of what seemed to be pure energy. It spun rapidly before dissolving and melting away. Mark felt himself raise up slightly as he now sat on top of the snow instead of sinking into it.

 

He was light as a feather.

 

**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx**

 

 

Geoff squinted up at the screen. This couldn't be right..."They're slitting up?"

"That's even more reason to stick together," Jack insisted, looking to Geoff. "God knows what they are planning. We need to be on our toes." Michael sniffed the cold air, his eyes dilating slightly like those of an excited shark "One of them is bleeding."

Ryan clasped his hand on Michael's shoulder, looking back at the screen. "Calm down there, tiger. Geoff, that guy's an adapter, and it looks like he can also AMP his power to the others." He gestured with his other hand to the image of Mark, who was still sat in the middle of the field with the orb in his hands.

"Shit, that's going to be a problem for us." Geoff followed his hand. "We're going to have to take him out, otherwise we won't be able to touch his team." 

Gavin did another shuffle. "And how do you suppose we go about that?"  Geoff drew in a deep breath. "I have a plan, but I'm not sure you are going to like it."

"Spit it out." Michael said plainly, crossing his arms. Ray did the same. "Yeah, not to be rude, but there are people coming to kill us."

Geoff shrugged off the comments and walked lightly with his words, eyes shifting every now and then to the sky. People with wings were prone to having very sharp hearing. "No doubt they left the adapter alone because they want us to go after him like some kind of weird Achievement Hunter bait. So I think we should pull the old AH slip knot!" He smiled in a sly fashion.

"The what?" Ryan raised an eyebrow and wiped the smirk off of Geoff's face. "You guys keep the rest of the fuckhead's team busy while me and you sneak around and takeout the AMP."

And how the fuck do we distract them?" Michael prompted. "You dickheads always distract me when I'm trying to get shit done, you'll figure out something." Geoff retorted.

"Just tell me where I need to be." Ray interrupted, glancing over at the rustling of dead tree branches. Geoff pointed up towards the hills peaking out of the right side of the arena. "Lead them up there, there's no way they'd get back to the poor bastard before he bled out." He wrapped up the plan with a quick order to Gavin. "Gavin, you're going to need to get their attention, got it?"

The Brit glanced over to him with a spark in his eyes. "Yes sir." 

Geoff nodded. "Then let's get going." Ryan grabbed the tattooed man and quickly dropped them both into his gate. 

Gavin spun towards the middle of the map and darted off, yelling something too fast for anyone to figure out. Ray blew a quick flame out of his mouth, a delighted smirk creeping over his face. He was going to have to watch out for that water elemental again, she didn't need to know she could make it this hard for Ray to power up. "Let's get going."

The three took off into a half run half jog and the crowd cheered them on as they ventured into the forest, Burnie documented every step in his booming voice.

 

 

 

Little did any of them know that the game had changed for the worst.


	9. Welcome To The Horror Show! pt.2

Sweat froze to the back of Tyler Oakley's neck as he ran through the forest. He hadn't stopped running since he split from his den; why would he? It's dangerous to stop moving, especially when you don't know where your opponents are.

He had crossed a small pond and a faded trail before coming to the incline that marked the beginning of the mountain-like hills on the left side of the arena, the one he had watched the enemy run towards on the huge screen on the south side which was currently on a wide shot of the crowds.

He slowed to a jog for twenty feet up the incline before ducking behind the first rock that could hide him, looking up at the sky. M was no where to be seen, so he was on his own. He peeked around the rock, then to the sides, and back up to the sky. No one. So he continued his sprint.

He got another ten feet before his feet sank ankle deep in the snow, causing him to trip and fall forward, knocking his glasses off and making him shiver violently from the impossibly cold contact.

He growled and pushed his now aqua lit locks from his snow chilled face, whipping his head around and looking back to where he had come from. Lightning flashed in his green blue eyes and set them into a red glow, the trees becoming clear as he spotted two other figures dancing with Mark's familiar energy form.

 

 

"God dammit!"

 

 

** XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx **

 

Geoff gasped for air as Mark's fist plunged deep into his abdomen, sending him stumbling back a few feet.

 

 "Ryan!"  He coughed out a plee, feeling a strong hand grab his shoulder and shove him out of the way of another punch. 

Ryan took the blow and grabbed Mark's wrist, opening a gate in the snow and throwing him into it with all of his might. An other portal appeared and Mark flew out of it, slamming into a rock .       

"This was a really bad idea!" Ryan said quickly over his shoulder as he watched Mark stumble back to his feet, resetting his unhinged jaw and shaking the foggy feeling from his head.

"This is the ONLY idea!" Geoff regained some breath, quickly grabbing Ryan and projecting whispers of empty space around them. 

Mark looked around. "Get out here!" he challenged.

 

Ryan waited untill his back was turned to slip a gate under their feet, sending him and Geoff into brief darkness before slowly rising into the cover of the trees just outside of the clearing. 

"Well, that fucking backfired!" he half whispered to Geoff, who was now pressed up against the tree next to him.

"Well, it's obvious that we're not going to be able to do this on our own." Geoff whispered back, sighing slightly. They had managed to sneak up behind the bastard before he noticed and give him a good hit to his skull, but that only stunned him. They haven't even left a scratch on him and already Geoff feels like he cracked a rib or two. If this kid was going to be brought down by anything, it probably wasn't going to be them.

"Then what do we do?" Ryan watched as the boy in the clearing got back into his criss cross sitting position, still looking around in a paranoid manor.

"Whatever we can to make sure he doesn't help out his team mates." Geoff bit his lip.

"I'm going to distract him, I want you to figure out a way to get past his power."

"Are you sure?" Ryan's eyes flashed between the AMP and Geoff. He didn't have a doubt in his mind about Geoff being able to distract Mark, but what if someone else came to help Mark? Would Geoff be able to fend them both off if Ryan was too slow? He's already hurt...

"It's either that or we try plan A again." Geoff smiled and held up his fists in a loose boxing pose, throwing a left hook.

"Let's do it," Ryan said.

Geoff didn't wait for anything more, he swung out from behind that tree and sent a sharp ringing tone piercing through Mark's ear drums.

**"HEY, ASSHOLE, OVER HERE."**

Mark screamed and covered his ears. The tissue in his eardrums thickened to block out the noise and he realized that he couldn't. Geoff's voice was  _inside_ him.

" _ **Keep your eye on the birdy.**_ " Geoff slid the hypnotizing thoughts into Mark's head as he ran away from Ryan's hiding spot, making Mark's eyes stay with him.

Ryan watched carefully as Mark got to his feet with a snarl, throwing his weight towards Geoff and running after him. He would have probably gotten a hold of him if he hadn't of split off into 3 Geoffs, which each ran in a different direction and screamed orders his brain was too slow to deny.

**_"I said keep your eyes on me!"_**

_**"Over here, asshole!"** _

_**"Look at me when I'm speaking to you!"** _

Mark's eyes were shifting so fast it was starting to hurt. He felt his sockets buzzing as his body tried to change in any way to make it stop. 

"Fight me like a man, dammit!" He dug his feet into the snow and came to a screeching stop, throwing his arm to the side and snapping the neck of a Geoff that was about to side swipe him. The body on his arm convulsed widely before disappearing into nothing. It distracted the AMP long enough so that he didn't see the other Geoff running at him, fist reared back. He delivered a swift blow to Mark's face that sent him straight back onto the ground, a string of spit and blood flying from his mouth and staining the snow. 

Before he could get up Geoff jumped down onto him and straddled his waist, delivering another solid punch to his cheek, and another, and another. Mark, eyes wide from shock, shut them tight and Geoff felt his skin go hard as stone, which made it especially painful when his fist connected with Geoff's temple, sending him into the snow with a pain filled yelp.

Geoff instinctively rolled as soon as he hit the ground, missing another punch by inches. 

 _ **"Quit it!"**_ He ordered as he got back to his feet. Mark froze for a few seconds and Geoff kicked him back down into the unforgiving cold. 

"Ryan, I lied! Hurry the fuck up!' Geoff tried to yell, but was cut off by a scream and the sound of wet, tearing muscle.

 

_**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx** _

 

Gavin swallowed a shallow breath as he watched the screen. 

The Amp's head slid slowly off his shoulders and hit the ground with a damp _thunk_ as his body stumbled forward a few feet, blood oozing from his neck like an overflowing glass. The bulk of limbs fell forward on the snow, staining it with dark red liquid that spread quickly around the body. The camera flashed to a 45 degree angle, probably from an evergreen, of Geoff's face. The Brit's chest tightened as he looked over that face, specs of blood and frozen sweat, eyes upset, confused...alive; that's all that mattered now. There was no more time for emotions. You were either alive, or not.

"Markiplier has been eliminated! Point Achievement Hunter!" Burnie's voice filled his ears, along with a mixture of clapping and the roar of the crowd.

The camera caught the image of Ryan coming through the portal he had used to slice Mark's head off, closing it and looking from Geoff to the blood covered body. instead of mirroring Geoff's distraught face, he let a smirk creep onto his lips and he said something the camera was too far to pick up, but the masses went wild. The system did a shaky jump cut through a few other feeds that only sported empty space before something caught movement.

"Looks like we have another face off in the making!" Griffon commented rather cheerfully as she helped Burnie tell the white mask apart from the snow. The masked Tube was crouched against a tree, peering over a small mound of snow to something off screen. Gavin squinted as he tried to get a better look of where he might be, but ended up staring at the visible breath that jutted out his mouth hole. This kid was perfectly still, staring straight on, like he was hunting...in one swift movement, Cry stood up and readied an arrow. Since when had he been holding a bow?

  
Gavin couldn't take his eyes off the screen, his heart pounding, he wanted to scream at him to stop, but knew he'd never hear.

Cry let the arrow fly and quickly ducked back down. Gavin felt the air surge as the thick wooded arrow flew right past his face and nicked the top of his ear, the small spec of pain quickly becoming a fiery agonizing prick that claimed the appendage. Gavin yelled and gripped his ear, quickly speeding behind a near evergreen, Cry had been standing right in front of him and he didn't even notice. He took a deep breath to try and dull the pain and pulled his hand back to look at. His fingers were covered in some weird green stuff, which burned slightly on his skin...poison.

"Looks like Gavin's in trouble!" Burnie chuckled over the loud speaker.

Gavin let out another panicked breath and glanced around the tree, Cry was no where in sight. Maybe he should run, get to the others. There's no way Cry could keep up with him, he'd be there within seconds- another arrow whizzed past his face and hit the tree he was pressed against, instantly it began to wither and rot behind him. Cry was standing in front of him, already drawing back another arrow. Gavin ducked under a low hanging branch and slipped against another trunk on the opposite side. He didn't understand how he didn't see this guy moving! Why was he trying so hard to kill him?-

Then the reality hit him: Cry is going to kill him if he gets the chance, it's how he wins the game. Just because he saved him in the Pit doesn't mean they're mates. The only way Gavin was going to win, to get out of here with his life, was to kill Cry and his team. He had to accept that fact now, or he won't get far past this tree.  
As if to prove him right, Cry let another arrow loose in front of him and nicked his side, sending waves of instant pain through his body due to the poison. This time Gavin didn't run, he lunged at Cry like he imaged Michael would.

"You're a crap shot!" he yelled and threw a lightning fast punch, hitting Cry right in the ribs. The masked boy let out a gasp and stumbled back a few feet, clutching his ribs. Broken, defiantly broken, Gavin knew he hit him hard enough. He came at Cry again with a kick in the same place, sending him rocketing backward, his feet never touching the snow as he flew a good 15 feet and collided with a tree, making it shake violently and loose the snow it was holding.

"Ouch." Was all Burnie could say as he watched Cry spit blood and struggle to get to his feet, drawing back an arrow in a split second and letting it fly. It lopped a lock of Gavin's brunet hair as he ducked below it, it gave Cry enough time to move and narrowly miss another one of Gavin's lightning punches. Cry grabbed Gavin's left wrist and in an instant flipped him onto the ground, throwing his hand down onto his chest and stomping his foot down on it to keep it in place. Gavin yelled out in pain and sent his other fist into Cry's knee. Cry grunted and hopped up on Gavin's chest, kicking the other hand to the ground and holding it there by the elbow.

"For the love of god, stop struggling," Cry said calmly behind the mask as he pulled back another arrow.

"Why!?" Gavin cried, trying to struggle free, panicking. "You're trying to kill me!"

"No, I'm not."

"IT BLOODY FEELS LIKE IT!"

" **SHUT UP**."

His voice was loud and deep, it caught Gavin's attention. Even though his mind protested greatly, he relaxed.

"The flying drones don't have audio receptors, listen carefully. I'm going to count to 3, and then you are going to push my foot off your elbow and hit my bow, got it?"

Gavin noticed the arm Cry was holding the bow up with was trembling slightly, blood seeping through a ripped patch of his suit. A prick of fear ran down his cold spine, had he already killed?

"O-Ok."

"One...two...three!" Cry's foot 'accidentally" slipped off of Gavin's arm and the Brit quickly shoved Cry off of him by the bow. Cry twisted and rolled onto the ground, shooting an arrow into the air and right through the lens of the drone, causing it to nose dive to the ground.

"Incredible, Cryotic has taken out the _armored_  camera." Griffon snickered over to Burnie, who glared back at her.  
"Don't worry, folks, we'll have another drone on them soon!"

Cry slowly sat up and snaked his hand under his mask, rubbing his face. "The gooey stuff is just irritant, the pain will go away shortly." Gavin watched in half relief and half in confusion as Cry ran his fingers over the broken part of his suit, it was blackened at the tips.

"Why did you do that?" Gavin asked.

Cry looked over to him, the only hint to his face was his slightly thin chin that poked out from the bottom. "Do what?"

"You could have put an arrow in my neck. You could've gotten closer to getting revenge for that bloke's death, to winning-"

"I don't want to win." Cry interrupted, getting to his feet. "You've never done anything to hurt me, so why should I try and take your life?"

"That's what we were recruited for." Gavin got to his feet as well, looking around for any other cameras.

"You were recruited, we were captured." Cry said blankly, looking towards the sky. "The real world doesn't like us."

"What you on about?" Gavin was utterly lost, what was he saying?

Cry's ears pricked and turned back to him. "We need to get moving or Marzia will find us, she's quick with those obnoxious wings of hers."

"The winged bird?"

"Yes winged 'bird', follow me." Cry bent over and picked his bow back up, slinging it onto his back and starting off into the thick brush.

"Why should I trust you?" Gavin blurted out, not really thinking. He crossed his arms over his chest in an effort to make it seemed like he meant it. "You tried to kill me."

Cry stopped walking and looked over his shoulder, a puff of visible breath shooting out of his mask. "Because I didn't."  
He then turned his head back and continued walking. "Watch for drones."

Gavin bit his lip for a second, like he was going to consider another option. He jogged slightly up next to Cry and tried to match his long strides. They took about 18 steps before the Brit felt like it was okay to talk again. "So...what happened to your arm?"

Cry chuckled slightly, rolling his shoulder. " I was hit with a Thunderblade, still have it."

 

_**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx** _

 

Michael stared impatiently at the static filled screen, growling low in his throat has he glanced down at the forest below.

"Fuckface better not have gotten himself killed."

"Gavin?" Jack snorted, looking over at him. "The second that guy actually touches him, he'll be half way to Cuba."

"I'm more concerned about why we haven't seen anyone up here." Ray scanned the base of the hill again, but still saw no one. "We've been up here a while."

"Maybe we should go wreck some shit then," Michael suggested, twirling his staff in his fingers.

"Geoff told us to stay here." Jack crossed his arms.

"Geoff isn't here" Michael retorted.

 

"It's a shame, too, you'll be needing all the help you can get,"  A sing song voice echoed from behind them, causing them all to flinch and spin around.  Standing before them was the Aqua haired boy and the blonde guy from the pit, staring at them with big smiles. They made no moves forward, no moves at all.

"How did you get past us?"" Michael growled again, looking them over.

"Alright, so get this. Believe it or not, you can walk up the SIDES of a hill too!" Tyler smiled wider and threw his hands up. "It's like 'MIND FUCK!' "

"I'm surprised M hasn't already gotten the drop on you guys, we've been standing here for 5 minutes and you guys haven't even noticed." The Swede smiled and crossed his arms, dragging his eyes over the men once more. He thought they didn't look like a very balanced or trained bunch when he first laid his eyes on them, and this seemed to confirm it. He knew that they wouldn't get the jump on them so easily if their roles had been switched.

Ray balled his hands up at his sides, trying to think of what to do. These men above anything else were the enemy, he knew the other team was the only thing standing in the way of him and his den leaving this arena alive. Though the way the conversed ever so nonchalantly to one another and to them, the very people that may kill them, sent chills down the boy's spine. This wasn't normal.

"A bit cocky, aren't we boys?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow. Ray glanced over at him and saw him kicking the snow away ever so slightly, masking it by shifting his weight.

"It's not called being cocky if we already know we're going to win

" Tyler said, his lips twitching into a slight smile. "Only a matter of time."

"And how can you be so sure?" Jack made one final kick and went back to standing upright, his foot slightly in front of the hole he was just making.

 "Well first of all, we're ranked higher then you, secondly..." Tyler began his probably prepared speech. The blonde boy, ever so silent, standing next to him. Ray tried for another quick glance at his den brothers and caught a glimpse of Jack letting two of the small seeds he had still been holding slip from his fingers and fall to the ground, quickly covering them up with his foot.  
His attention was then drawn to the sound of Michael's growling, which was becoming more and more apparent. Ray looked to see the boy glaring daggers at the Aqua haired boy, his fists balled up so tightly his knuckles were a shade of pure white. His growling shortly started to sound more and more like he was gargling something, which Ray just took as rage. Tyler seemed to hear him, which only made him brag louder.

"And lastly, your team doesn't even seem to work that well! You have no meaningful training behind your attacks. Just face it, our team isn't like yours: Full.of.idots."

"Or fake faggots." Felix jabbed.

Ray's eyes snapped back over to the blonde boy, his heart kicking into a higher gear. He reached for his dagger but was beat to the point when Michael lunged forward, spitting green acid at Felix like a furious viper. Felix's hands flew in front of him to try and stop the venom from hitting his face and Michael latched onto his left arm, snake like fangs surging painfully into his skin.  
Felix screamed and tried to shake his arm free, yelling in a panicked voice while punching Michael in the temple. "Släpp mig, din jävel!"  
Ray sprang forward as well, grabbing Felix's free arm and holding it behind him with two burning white hot hands that instantly seared into the skin and muscle, causing the Swede to let out another ear piercing shriek similar to the one Lindsay had emitted in their first match.

Tyler had little time to move before a vine wrapped around his foot and hurtled him into the air before slamming him back down into the snow with a bone breaking force. Jack moved his foot off the seed and pressed his hands to the sky, a massive stalk with a long but hollow pod shot from the ground, opening up to reveal two massive sets of teeth and a terrible odor.

"What the fuck!?" Tyler screamed as he was dragged back into the air, the vine dangling over the mouth that was ready to receive it's next meal.

"That would be what happens when you mix a seed of a Venus flytrap with a Corpse Flower." Jack smiled, mimicking Tyler's earlier, laid back tone. He clenched his fists together and the plant growled and snapped at him like a hungry panther, it's breath shooting up in massive cloud of steam that fogged Tyler's glasses.

Ray didn't think that could really be considered foliage anymore.

"Now, why don't you start by telling me where the rest of your team is." Jack flashed his eyes up to Tyler, who was trying to kick the vine off his ankle like the plant under him wasn't clacking it's jaws.

"Go to hell!" Tyler yelled down at him. his eyes flashing a red glow. Suddenly a blast of energy shot through those eyes and hit Jack, blowing a hole in his arm and causing him to slam down onto his back. It had been that which caused him to loosen his hands and make the vine drop him...right  into the corpses' mouth. The giant plant closed it's petals around the boy and gargled him in it's mouth, crunching down repeatedly and letting blood seep from in between it's seal. Felix yelled out in more shock then anything else, his body quaked as his hand stretched like rubber and wrapped around Ray's neck, crushing his wind pipe. Ray let out a choked sound of pain and recoiled his hands, grabbing at his wrist with hands aflame. Michael retracted his fangs to help Ray and was immediately flung into one of the huge stones surrounding the summit of the hill, causing blood to sputter out of his mouth. Felix flung his extended arm around and sent Ray to join him, turning to Jack and yelling.

"I'll tell you; tell you anything; just let Tyler go!"

Jack stared at the plant as it tried to devour the boy, his body shaking with pain and his eyes wide with panic. He reached his hands out and pulled them back, forcing the Corpse plant to open it's massive petals. A huge beam of red light shot into the sky and the energy blast knocked Felix down. Tyler screamed bloody murder as he stumbled out of the massive plant, rolling onto the ground and throwing up. He was holding his hand over his eyes, blood seeping in between his fingers and several other deep wounds that soaked his suit. Felix ran to Tyler's side and picked him up, not bothering to pay attention to the enemy team watching them.

"Tyler? Tyler!" Felix repeated, giving Tyler's cheek a smack. Tyler took his hand from his face and stared up into the sky, a mixture of screaming and crying as his eyes spurted blood once more.

"Felix, Pewds, I can't see!" He shrieked, his eyes triggering and sending another pulse into the air, sending the Tube pair flying back a couple of feet.

 

"Oooh! It looks like Jack's plant monster caught Tyler's eyes with a couple of it's teeth!" Burnie was leaning over the railing, watching them idly. "Hey, doc, what does that do for his powers?"

Ray finally got his vision un-blurred from the bash he took to the head, looking up at Burnie. who was looking to a small side balcony. Marcus and Gus stood, leaning over the railing and watching the fight very closely. Marcus took in a sharp breath and hesitantly spoke into the mic clipped to his coat, his voice trembling.

"A lash to the eyes of an energy core can lead to uncontrollable blasts and.." He took in another breath... "...Could lead to implosion."

"Hear that folks? This fight is going to go out with a BANG!" Griffon snickered, flying up to the edge of the balcony and sitting on the railing next to Burnie.

"You're poker face is certainly much greater then mine." Marcus spat quietly into the mic, causing Griffon to tense momentarily before she smiled again.

 

"Tyler, you need to calm down!" Felix yelled, grabbing Tyler's arm.

"Didn't you hear him, get the fuck away from me!" Tyler screamed, shaking his hand off. "Get the fuck out of here, I'm out!"

 

Felix didn't have time to protest again before Michael jumped on him, punching him square in the jaw and sending his face into the ground.

 "Okay, so get this," His voice dripped with sarcasm as he raised his hand, fingers morphing into lion like claws.

"You were a fucking _waste of my time._ " He laughed and threw down his claws....but only hit empty air.

With a huge gust of wind, Marzia had swooped in and grabbed hold of the back of Tyler's suit and catapulted them both back into the air, hurtling towards the other side of the map. Michael growled and bolted forward, quickly reaching the steep incline and jumping straight off, barely managing his wings as he swung after them.

  
Jack, who had been frozen in place by pure fear, got to his feet and quickly dropped another seed. With the back of his foot he stamped it into the ground and waved his hands, coaxing the corpse back up and into the ready position.

"Ray, get up!" He ordered. Ray also snapped out of his spectating state and stumbled to his feet, taking a Thunder blade in his hand and lunging forward at the unsuspecting Swede. Felix spun around and threw a punch, Ray blocking it weakly and going for a leg sweep. He missed, but Jack's vine caught Felix's leg, hurtling him into the sky like his partner had done minutes before. Jack raked his hand up and sent the boy flying into the air, sending another vine to catch him and do the same, looking back to Ray.

"I'll distract him, get Michael!" He ordered, whirling the boy around like a storm on the unforgiving sea, not allowing him time to get a grip on the vines.

"Michael can take care of himself, I got this!" Ray spun the blade around his finger and roared into the sky like a rocket, pulling it back and lighting it up. He spotted the Swede trying to wriggle free and poised to strike.

"No!" Jack pulled the boy away from him, sending him back into the sky and wrapping the appendage around Ray's waist. It was getting harder to keep his wounded arm up. "It's _time_! They'll kill him!"

A ping of pain throbbed low in Ray's chest, he opened his mouth to shout why, but he was catapulted off the hill and over the trees by Jack's plants. He lit his boots back up and kept forward, deciding he didn't know enough to go against Jack's call.

Jack gave one more massive push and threw Felix as far as he could towards the heavens, whipping around at the sound of a distant horn and a roar of a bloodthirsty crowd. He shook his head slightly and looked towards the announcer's box in disbelief. Burnie's cold smile stared back at him as Griffon raised her microphone to her mouth in slow motion and shouted something that the adrenaline wouldn't allow him to hear. He turned to where Gus was seated, his mouthed words came through loud and clear.

"Get to the others!"

Jack culled the man eating plant into the ground with the vines, feeling them sink deep into the ground beneath him. There was a moment of stillness, he heard the crunch of Felix's body, probably unconscious from the G's of being whipped around, snapping tree branches on the way down. Then in an instant the vines rose back up from under his feet, one under each foot as they sent him off the ground and the hill like all the others had done. The Venus corpse plant greeted him at the bottom, catching him with closed petals and carrying him forward into the woods. He had to find the others before those things got to them. The horn he was told about all through training only meant one thing.

Hunters.

_**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx** _

 

Michael raced after the bird girl, the icy winds ripped past his face and bit at his nose painfully, but he could not slow.  
These people are what stood in the way of the win, of the goal...of the safety of his den, he _had_ to save his den. With one final push forward he had enough speed to catch up to them. Like a defensive hawk to his territory he rammed Marzia, his talons reaching down and sinking into Tyler's shoulders. The boy let out a pained scream and threw his head back, letting another blast of energy shoot from his broken eyes. It blasted the two birds apart and Tyler dropped helplessly into the think brush below with another choked sob and scream.

  
Michael regained his balance and readied for another attack, but it never came as Ray grabbed him and sent both of them out of the sky. They too crashed through the thick branches of the evergreens and landed in the snow. Michael let out a breath, well, more like it was knocked out of him by Ray's elbow. He slowly lifted his head and pushed up on his palms, the snow clumped in his curls shivering as he swiveled his head quickly to survey the area. No immediate danger, he sunk down to his elbows. A warm feeling came over his chest as he brushed Ray's. He looked down to see the firebender with his eyes closed, knocked out by the fall.

He rolled off the younger boy and checked him, no blood. Cuts? None he could see. Michael sucked in a deep breath and looked around again. He heard no movement, Tyler had most likely died on impact. He then looked up to the small hole the two had made when they fell through the canopy. He saw nothing, and heard no sounds of giant wings flapping close by. That must mean that Marzia must've saw Tyler fall and flew off. Michael turned his gaze back to Ray, touching his cheek softly before giving it a little tap.

"Hey, wake up little red riding hood, the wolf wants his money back."

Ray let out a sigh and warmed his cheeks, steam and smoke mixing together above him. "Michael?" He spoke softly.

"No, it's cthulhu. or course it's me!" Michael smiled softly, slightly wobbling as he stood up. He reached his hand out to Ray, who took it and staggered to his feet as well.

"Did the other two get away?" He asked.

"The bird chick did. She dropped Aqua lad, I'm sure he didn't make it far past the ground." Michael answered. "I can't hear or smell him, so I think he's gone."

"We need to get back to Jack." Ray checked his blade count, still just missing one. Good. "He told me to go find you, something about-"

 He was cut off by the sound of the trees bending to the make way for Jack as he ran to them, massive plant heard jittering in the background. He was clutching his arm, which was bleeding heavier due to his movement.

"They called out the Hunter," he stammered.

"Fuck." Michael's eyes widened. "Fuck, oh fuck, no no no..."

 "Why, the match has barely even started!" Ray protested running a hand through his chilled hair.

"Where's Geoff and Ryan?" Michael asked, doing the same. "Where's Gavin?"

"I don't know, but we need to find them." Jack looked around.

"I'll do it." Ray spoke up. "You two find Gavin."

"Ray, splitting up is a very bad idea." Michael retorted.

"But it's the only idea we have. You two go, I'll get them and we'll be back before you know it."

"Don't give me that 'Daddy'll be back soon' shit. Just do it." Michael clasped his hand on Ray's shoulder.

Ray smiled and rested his hand on top of Michael's, warming it slightly before letting his hand slip. "Stay safe."

"You too," Jack interrupted, smiling and gesturing Michael to him. Michael gave Ray one last look before following Jack the way they had came.

Ray took a deep breath and spun around, starting to make his way in the direction Geoff and Ryan had said to meet...

 

But he stopped dead as he looked up and saw a girl in armor run past.

 

_**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTIRESXxXxXxX**_

Geoff and Ryan dived behind the thick brush as they heard metal clad footsteps. A tall woman walked into the clearing, her bright blue eyes glancing cautiously around the field. Her blonde hair whipping gently in the wind. She reached into the small pouch on her belt and pulled out a small capsule, which dimly glowed gold.

She looked around once more, then chucked the capsule into the wind. It got a good 20 feet in the air and then suspended, twirling widely like Ray's Thunderblade. She threw her hand into the air and snapped. The dense clouds and fog of winter instantly parted and gave way to the clear skies. Smiling, the woman rested her hands on her hips and nodded at her good work.

She tilted her head for a moment, raising her ear to the sky...and after a few moments she quickly moved. She brought her hands in close to her chest and kicked judo style, her foot now pointed to the clear patch of sky. The bottom of her boot opened and a bone broke through her skin like wolverine, the surface of the bone morphed into a shape Ryan nor Geoff could make out until it plated over in metal and something shot from it....a steel arrow. The bone had become a crossbow!

The woman slammed her foot back down and the crossbow snapped off of her, falling over near Mark's corpse 10 feet away. A split second later there was a screech from the sky as Marzia fought to keep her altitude, but gave in and came crashing down into the clearing. The woman smiled and started to walk towards her.

Marzia sat up quickly in the snow and looked at her left wing, it had been impaled by the arrow. She tried to swallow her scream as she reached over and grabbed a hold of it, but once she gave it a few good yanks she realized it was an arrow with a hooked tip. Her head snapped over to the lady who was now a few feet from her.

The woman smiled down at her with the eyes of a predator. "Hi, I'm Jenna, the huntress."

Marzia let out that scream she had been holding in, crawling backwards as fast as she could. "Felix, Toby, somebody help!"

"Nice voice, but it's useless. You're friends probably aren't stupid enough to be out here like you are." Jen laughed, bringing her hands up and popping her knuckles very harshly. The bones broke through the skin and her gloves, also covered with a brass, new bones growing under them and healing over with skin.

Marzia screamed again, tripping a little on Mark's decapitated body. It gave Jenna the time to run up ram her brass knuckles into her face, making her slide to the side and spin onto her back. Marzia cried out and got on her hands and knees, ignoring the surge of pain in her face and crawling away quickly again. Jenna just rolled her eyes and ran after her.

Marzia rolled onto her back and kicked up, managing to get Jenna in the stomach, a triumphant smile slipping through the pain in her face as she tried again. "You're not so tough!-" She cut herself off when Jenna caught her second kick, effortlessly flipping her onto her stomach and ramming her foot into the back of her knee. Marzia shrieked loudly as she felt something go straight through her knee and into the ground, pinning her. Jenna lifted her foot and slammed it into the other knee forming steel steaks in her legs.

"You know, when you scream like that, it just makes me want to kill you more." Jenna yelled over Marzia's garbled cries, grabbing both of her wings and pulling the towards her. Marzia's screaming got louder as she was bent painfully up into a 'U' shape, her back cracking along the way. Jenna took both wings in one hand and balled her other hand into a fist, bone shooting through it in a bloody mess. Her hand grabbed her wrist and plated over into a studded mace.

"Don't scream too loud, it'll be distracting, and If I miss it'll just hurt worse." Jenna smiled as a new bone materialized in her arm and she lined up the mace with Marzia's head.

Marzia clawed desperately at the snow. Trying to do something, anything to get her free. Tears of pain and fear surged through her eyes, stinging the cuts made by the punch to the face.

"Felix, FELIX!" She cried out as she felt the cold metal of the mace tap her face slightly before slowly tilting back out of her vision. " **FELIX!!** "

Her eyes snapped up to the commentator's box, reaching out for it and letting out a mixture of a garbled cry and a shriek. **"MAMMA!!-"**

She was cut off when Jenna swung the mace down and caved her head in. Her hand twitched and dropped into the snow, her head swinging limply below her now relaxed shoulders. Jenna smiled innocently and dropped her wings, letting her body slip to the ground. Blood seeped from her mouth and crushed eye socket, staining her light brown locks a dark satin color. Jenna heard a loud scream and cocked an eyebrow, looking towards the jumbo-tron. Griffon was on the camera, she was leaning over the balcony with her hand stretched out to the clearing to her daughter, Her wings were puffed up and tears were surging out of her eyes like Marzia's had been. Burnie looked shocked only for a second, then slapped his game face on and addressed the roaring crowd.

"WOW! Not only has this added yet another point to Achievement Hunter's lead, it's also hit home! Griffon, I had no Idea your own CHILD was in these games! How will you live with-?"

"YES!" She screeched, causing her mic to make a very high pitched squeal as she slammed her hands down on the railing, looking slowly to him with a face of suffering. "Yes...you knew."

Burnie opened his mouth to speak, but closed it as he watched Griffon slump down in her seat with her head in her hands. His face only showed a moment of pity before he whipped around with a big smile. "Alright, back to the battlefield-ohohoh, look! It appears as though her fiancé has finally found them! A little late if you ask me, but let's watch and see how this goes, shall we?" 

 

Felix stood at the other end of the clearing, Tear filled eyes switching between the body of his love and her killer, his shaking fist clenched so tightly his fingernails dug into his palms and made them bleed.

"Well, hey there."  Jenna looked over at him with a warm smile, hands wresting on her hips. She glanced down at Marzia's body and then back to Felix, sticking out her bottom lip in a pout. "That yours? Sorry 'bout that. You know, they really shouldn't put couple's on the same team, it just ends badly for everyone."

"You BITCH!" Felix screamed, his voice cracking. He lunged forward, running across the clearing with enormous strides. Jenna just rolled her eyes and got into a fighting stance. Felix threw the first punch, hitting Jenna in the gut. She did little more then grunt, quickly clocking him in the face with her brass knuckles and sending him onto the ground. Pweds turned over quickly and wrapped his legs around hers, sending her down next to him. She rolled ontop of him and clocked him again, knocking his head down into the snow. Felix shook his head slightly and slammed his forehead into Jenna's, discombobulating her. He brought his hands up to the sides of her neck, stretching his hands all the way around her neck and squeezing viscously. Jenna gasped and clawed at his hands, bringing her leg up to strike him in the gut.

"You killed my wife, now I kill you!" He screamed, tightening his grip and stretching to head-butt her again.

 

"Not only his girlfriend, but his WIFE!" Burnie shouted,

"They've got a baby at home!" Griffon wailed, her stage mask shattering as she got to her feet and ran to the edge of the balcony, jumping off. One of the giant guards that Burnie always had with him grabbed her entire foot in his enormous hand, yanking her back onto the terries. He wrapped his other hand around her neck, keeping her grounded as she struggled and screeched. The crowd reached another uproar that caught their attention, eyes turning back to the pair rolling on the ground... who had stilled.

 

Jenna's smirk widened when Felix's screams gave way to horrible, garbled cries as the knife that had formed on the tip of her middle finger plunged again and again into the soft skin of his neck. He clawed widely at the reddening snow, tears poured from his eyes as Jenna tore at his voice box and ripped his flesh away.  Ryan shivered as he saw the look of cold blooded murder in her eyes. She grabbed Felix's blood splattered locks and forced his head back, reaching to rip away the new skin.

"You're leaving that baby all alone with no Mommy or Daddy?" She spat as she leaned over him, plunging her finger into the soupy mix of blood and chucky flesh in the now holding bowl of his neck. "Maybe I should put in a request to foster it here until it's of fighting age, I'm sure it'll be just like it's parents."

She snickered as she watched Felix's lips part, blood seeping out and bubbles forming in the lake in his throat. His eyes went wide and glassed over, his face softening into the stare of death.

 Jenna got to her feet while the people spectating let out a mixture of cheers and boos. Felix's bright, smiling face popped up onto the big screen as his stats rolled across it. An animation of a stamp blinking across his picture read "Eliminated!".

 

"With half Team Tube gone, I believe the Huntress has chosen her side!" Burnie announced, his features glinting with sadness as he watched his co-host being hauled off the balcony kicking, crying, and screaming.

 

Geoff looked over to Ryan, his eyes stone but hinted at cracks of pain. A family torn apart in seconds. Ryan gave Geoff a look of solace and leaned down, pressing his hand to the snow and feeling it shift as it fell into the void.

"We need to find the others." Geoff warned as he stepped towards the portal.

"Fast" Ryan added, taking one last glance back at the Huntress as he let Geoff go first into the portal. She was staring at the three bodies that littered the once calm clearing.  Wading in puddles of blood with twisted limbs and horrified faces like Halloween decorations. Her face shown disturbing disappointment and boredom as she rolled her shoulders and turned to face inward to the arena. Ryan swallowed hard as he took a step back into the nothingness of the void. They needed to round everyone up and get to a safe place...

This woman wasn't going to spare anyone if she saw them.

 

_**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx** _

 

Toby ran as fast as his feet could push off the snow, panting and somehow sweating through the impossibly cold weather. He had to find Cry and Tyler and they needed to think of something. This was getting more and more bleak, his friends were all dropping, dying, he needed to get the other two somewhere safe. He skidded to a stop, he heard branches breaking to his left. His head whipped to the sound and his mouth spoke words he couldn't hear, but that didn't matter because it was not Cry or Tyler who emerged from the brush. His pale eyes locked onto deep brown ones as the fire elemental jumped back slightly, calling flames to his palms and instinctively sending one Toby's way. The brunette threw up his arm, his wristband quickly expanding into a full shield and swallowing the flame's heat.

"Hark! how the bells  
Sweet silver bells  
All seem to say,  
"Throw cares away!"

Ray's hands extinguished as he recoiled them to his ears, trying to stop the pounding of loud bells in his eardrums. Toby got into a fighting stance and readied for contact, but Ray only yelled over the sounds in his mind. 

"Whoa, god, cut it out!" 

confused by the lack of the other boy trying to kill him, he let his power slip and quickly improvised with his voice.

"Put your fucking hands behind your head!"

Ray did what he was told, his body relaxing. Toby watched carefully, keeping steady eyes on his gauntlet. 

"I see you got pods, too." Toby guested with his chin to Ray's wrist.

"Yes." Ray answered simply, looking around and then back to him. 

"Look, Toby, I know we're supposed to be fighting to the death right now. But with that Hunter out, I'd like to get out of sight-"

"Your whole team is still alive." Toby said quietly, pulse spiking. Ray picked up on the fear in his eyes and his quickened breath, his shield shaking and his fist clenching at his side...Ray swallowed. He knew that Toby was shaken by his friends' deaths, and he feared for his own. So he had speak carefully, he was bargaining with his life... 

"Toby, I know this is a bad situation for you, but neither of us are going to survive if we stay out in plain sight." He spoke quickly, glancing around again. 

"You MADE me save your ass, now return the favor!" He hurried, his louder voice caused Toby to snap to attention. The boy looked from Ray to the clearing in the brush, a internal argument playing across his face. Toby knew they had little to no chance of winning the match with only half of the team. He couldn't just give up, could he? The only other option is death, he knew that...

Suddenly rustling could be heard not too far away, inching nearer, louder and louder. There's no more time to think, his death is sealed if he kept them both here. 

"Fine!" Toby said quickly, sprinting over and hauling Ray to his feet. "Just run!"

Like Ray needed to be told. He took off into a dead sprint, dragging Toby who was still clutching his hand. He messily pushed up his glasses while he looked around, he had to find somewhere to hide. He felt Toby pull on his hand.

"There!" He pointed to the right, where there was a small cave. Though Ray wanted to argue that they don't know if there was another exit, he didn't have the luxury of time. Ray dug his heels into the snow and turned sharply, whipping Toby along behind him as they both ducked into the cave. He lit his hand and refused to stop running until they stopped terrifyingly short as they almost smacked into the back of the cave. 

"Th-That's it?" Toby muttered, pressing his hands against the cold stone. Ray blinked a couple of times, turning around and stopping abruptly as he saw the left wall glimmer. He held his light up to the wall and skimmed his other hand across the chilled surface. It was metal instead of stone, like the wall of the cave he had found Kerry in-

"This map is the same." He uttered. It didn't seem significant at all, but it somehow seemed...comforting. 

"We need to think of a plan." Toby swiveled around, his face set in an unsettled frown.

"I'm open to suggestions." Ray replied in a small, sarcastic tone.

"Well, from what it seems, that Hunter's gonna go after anyone she sees..." Toby rolled his eyes up to the top of the cave. 

"Then we might as well try and take her out." Ray said, trying not to feel like this was to hopeless when he saw Toby turn to stare at him, wide eyed. 

"That's suicide, didn't you see her out there?" Toby reasoned, feeling the slight sting of his words.

"What other choice do we have? Just because she eliminates one team doesn't mean she has to stop." Ray said harshly, biting his tongue at his cruelty. God, when did he get like this?  Toby seemed to read that message loud and clear, because he made no more moves towards his argument. Instead he just leaned against the wall.

"My teacher always told me that the first step is to use your environment to your advantage." He stated. "we need to find a way to harvest this cold."

"That may be a problem" Ray flared the open flame in his hand to ward of Toby's questioning look.

"I could work around that, but you'll have to trust me." Toby flicked his eyes between Ray and the entrance to the cave, barely hidden by the bend. He was starting to get worried about the silence between their words. Wasn't there a unstoppable mad woman chasing them a minute ago? He was almost more disappointed the relieved.

As though God had heard him, the small silence was cut by a loud, horrified scream. It sounded as though the devil himself was standing before the person and bearing his teeth. 

Ray spun on his heels, eyes snapping open widely and flame spiking to the ceiling with fear and agony.

 

"GAVIN!"


	10. Welcome to the Horror Show!  p. 3

Gavin stared up at the menacingly tall woman who was grinning down at him, curling one blonde lock with her index finger. 

"Oh come on, I'm not that scary, yet." She snickered, taking a few steps forward. Gavin bolted, taking off into the dense brush. Jenna's grin widened as she ran after him like a cheetah running after a baby gazelle.

Gavin kept completely silent as he weaved through the thick brush, desperately looking for a place to hide. Speeding up to a run when the rustling behind him got louder, he quickly navigated the thick branches for what felt like forever before coming to a big oak tree with what seemed to be a hole dug underneath it's base. He crouched down to try and see if anything inhabited the nook, but heard the rustling drawing near again and quickly decided that wasn't an option. He grabbed the Thunderblade that had been obtained in the encounter with Ray and shoved it into the trunk of the tree, pulling himself up by it and using it as a foot rest as he grabbed onto the lowest branch and pulled himself up again, swinging down  by his legs and grabbing the blade before beginning his ascension up the great oak. 

He stopped half way up and looked down. Jenna was standing a few feet away from the tree, looking around and listening intently for anything to give away Gavin's position.

Gavin stood as still as his body would allow him, watching Jenna intently for a few more seconds before something else caught his eye. A small metal ball that moved so silently that Jenna didn't even suspect it as it got a close up on the back of her head. It stayed on her for a split second more before slowly moving away and rotating 180 degrees and slipped into the hole under the tree.

Gavin's eyes widened slightly as he pressed his ear against the tree, listening.

He was right, he could hear the faint sobbing.

 

**_XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx_ **

 

The jumbo-tron shifted for a few more feeds before they finally got to the drone under the oak.

"Shhh, people, we have a new interesting development." Burnie silenced the crowed as the camera switched to night vision.

On the lower balcony, Marcus's heart rate picked up as his eyes rested upon Tyler's shivering form.

The boy was curled up against the soft earth under the tree, half panting and half sobbing. There was a bloody cloth tied around his eyes, and his hands were covered in a mixture of blood and dirt, he had dug that nook himself. He pursed his lips and turned his ear slightly towards the drone, reaching out and touching it. He recoiled and gasped faintly, pulling up the bandages from his eyes. He had gotten pods, that was obvious now. The cuts around his left eye had been cleaned and the eye itself had been very sloppily sewn shut. His other eye was lathered with some sort of gel.

"Marcus, is that you?" He choked out, taking the camera in one hand and feeling for something else with his other hand.

"Guess that means she's close by." He swallowed, pulling the camera in closer and looking at it with his good eye. He opened his mouth once and then closed it, tears welling up.

"I-I love you." He sobbed into the drone, hunching his shoulders and pulling the knife into frame. clutching it tightly to his chest for a moment before slowly pulling it up to his neck. "I love you..."

The screen did a vertical split screen between Tyler and Marcus.

Marcus was leaning over the rail, visibly clutching it tightly as his face tinted from yelling so much. Eyes maintaining their lock on the screen.

"She won't get me, I wouldn't let you see that...I love you" He assured him through the screen. Pressing the knife against his neck until it pricked his skin, bleeding slightly. Tears flooding through the gel and stitches, he muttered those three last words again and again as he swiftly slid the blade across his neck.

"I'll see you again." He choked out as blood started to spill from the cut, soaking into his already dirt stained suit.

Marcus watched in horror as Tyler started to choke on his words, touching just under his cut and pulling his hand back to see the blood washing away the dirt. He looked into the camera with a scared but determined face, his lips finally parting as he slowly fell forward and trapped the camera underneath him, not moving. A few moments passed before Tyler's screen was pushed out of frame by Marcus's expanding one, leaving him staring up at his own emotional face.

His lips twitching and tears rolling down his red face, he turned away from the camera, whispering as he slid down the railing. "No...Tyler please, no..."

Gus looked up at the screen, which had switched to a helicopter view of the commentators and trainers boxes as the crowd battled out weather to hiss or cheer. Pulling his hands from his lab coat, he went and grabbed Marcus's hand, pulling him to his feet and clasping his shoulder with the other.

"Marcus, you need to get back up." Gus warned. Marcus turned his eyebrows down and opened his mouth, but Gus beat him to the words. "I know, it hurts, but there are still people down there who need you. They're scared, Marcus. They're kids watching their friends die. They need to know you're not going to abandon them, come hell or high water. You need to be with them, or you'll watch them die too."

Marcus watched in silence as Gus turned to look at the screen, which was on Jenna peeking under the tree with a small chuckle, and slowly let his hands slip from him. He leaned against the rail and watched the small spot of darker green rustle in the treetop above the huntress as she pulled the lifeless body out from under the tree. 

Jenna held Tyler's body by the neck of his suit and stared down at him. His hair had gone completely white, aside from the smears of blood and dirt, and his waves sunk down passed his gored, lifeless eyes, the one not sewn was wide open like someone was holding it open. With not so much as another glance downward she let the corpse drop to her feet, it's head sinking face first into the snow and staining it with the now too familiar color of blood. She clutched the drone in her other hand as it struggled to get free, holding up and examining it. She pulled a cloth from her glove and wiped the blood of off the lens, looking into it for a few seconds before hurling it into the treetop above.

It sailed right passed Gavin's head, a reoccurring theme, and he lunged forward. He pulled the Thunderblade back as he cleared the canopy, plunging it into Jenna's left arm and knocking her off her feet. Jenna gave a startled yelp and kicked Gavin off of her, feeling pain rip through her arm as the Thunderblade dragged her skin on the way out. She quickly got to her feet, looking for Gavin as she pushed down on her wounded arm. He flashed by her and cut her cheek, then the back of her knee, then her back. He was coming in from every angle and Jenna couldn't get a good look at him.

 

"Oh my god folks, not only is Gavin taking on the Huntress by HIMSELF, he's actually WINNING!" Burnie cheered, glancing back over his shoulder.  
"Achievement Hunter or not, that kid has some balls!"

 

The crowd hollered ecstatically as Gavin passed again and again like a bullet train.

Jenna screamed in pain as the dagger shallowly dug into her neck. Growling fiercely, she dropped down and swung her leg out, managing to trip Gavin as he passed behind her again. The Brit fell forward and caught himself before he hit the snow. pushing himself back onto his feet. He was too slow, because Jenna had already grabbed hold of his wrist. She twisted it until it crunched, making Gavin cry out as her hand busted through her skin, finger bones digging into his back, stapling his hand behind him.  
Jenna laughed and kicked the bones further into Gavin's back, sending him stumbling down into the snow. This gave her time to shake new bones into her hand and continue her giggling fit as Gavin clawed the snow in an attempt to worm his way away from her. She wasted no time in walking to him and putting her boot in the middle of his neck, stepping up on it.  
She grinned as she heard a loud cracking followed by a few choking gasps. She looked down at the boy as blood seeped from his mouth as his eyes stopped twitching and stayed stuck open. She hopped off him and whirled around, looking at the print of her boot in his crushed airway.

"One less problem without ya," she muttered, grabbing the Thunderblade from where it stood stuck into the ground and examining it. She squinted, blocking out the sound of the mad crowd and Burnie spewing some commentary as she felt the blade tug forward slightly. She flipped it over and looked into the small vial in the middle. She had seen these before, it was an elemental weapon.

And it was going to lead her right to it's owner.

 

**_XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx_ **

 

Michael tried his hardest to thrash out of Ryan's grip, his one free hand reaching towards Gavin's smiling face before Geoff caught his arm and pulled it back.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST LET HIM FUCKING DIE!" He screamed back at them as he threw his weight forward, pulling them a few feet.

"Michael! We're sorry, we had to stop for Jack-" Ryan tried to yell over him, but Michael interrupted him with more screams.

"YOU'RE _MONSTERS!_ " He screeched, yanking them forward again.

Geoff pushed the boy's wrist into Ryan's other hand and stepped in front of him, smacking him harshly across the face.

"If we hadn't stopped, Jack would be dead too! One lost teammate is better than two!" He barked.

"You always liked Jack more! Why didn't you let me save him!-" Michael's wailing was cut short by another smack, this one was hard enough to knock Ryan back and knock Michael on his ass.

 **"BECAUSE I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE YOU TOO!"** Geoff's words cut into the boy's brain. He covered his ears and curled up. Geoff's face softened as he looked upon the boy, feeling guilt mix on top of the grief he already felt in his heart. Reaching into his mind for something, anything to say.

"Ray will be here soon." was all he could sum up as he gently grabbed Michael's arm and pulled him to his feet.

All he could do now was grunt and watch the last of Gavin's stats roll passed and he was dragged back into the hollowed out tree.

 

**_XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx_ **

 

 Ray pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and rolled his shoulder's back nervously, trying to keep his eyes off of Gavin's smiling face on the screen.

"Alright, so run the plan by me one more time."

"She's got one of your Blades, but due to tweaks they had to make so people would stop getting impaled, it should be attracted to the gauntlet itself and not you." Toby handed his watch to Ray and took the gauntlet, dawning it on his right wrist.   
"If I can use it to distract her, you can go in for the kill."

"And if you can't?" Ray questioned, fastening the watch to his wrist and looking to him. 

"Then hopefully I bought you enough time to put up a good fight." Toby smiled at him, taking out one of the blades and skimming his fingers over it. "Hope these're still sharp."

"And you're sure you want to-" Ray didn't have time to ask. Toby pushed him back into the cave and stood ground as he heard the brush rustle off to the left. 

Clutching the blade tightly in his hand, he sprang forward, sporting no fear as he jabbed into the rustling thicket and was met with another blade, which pushed him back a few feet so Jenna could emerge from it. She glanced at the brunette boy with a smile and crossed her arms. 

"Hey there, where's your friend?"

Toby stiffened slightly as he realized he was now looking into the eyes of the woman who had pulled apart almost all of his team, but then forced himself to relax. He had to do this just right if he was going to escape with any hope for life beyond this arena. Toby twirled Ray's blade between his finger and pulled his lips back into a small smile. 

"I think you're mistaken, Lady, just me here. Though I'd love a hothothothot woman to keep me company."

Jenna scrunched up her nose at the comment, shifting her weight forward and in one swift move cracking her neck.  "Honey, I think it's best you keep quiet and let me do my job." 

Toby noticed the change in her tone and smiled, she didn't like being talked down to. Perfect. 

"You're right, a bodacious babe like you should already be at my feet, so about you open your mouth and hop to it!" Toby snickered and clapped his hands. The crowd erupted in wave of laughter as Burnie's voice boomed through the stadium.

"Oh DEAR LORD! What is this kid doing!?"

Jenna's whole face turned beet red as she looked from the stands back to Toby, embarrassment turning to pure anger as she pulled her blade back up and lunged forward "You're DEAD!" 

His 15 seconds of fame over, Toby quickly turned hightail and bolted towards the forest. Jenna followed, eyes ablaze with a need to finish what she had started.

"Get back here and fight!" She yelled as she slowly gained on him, her strides outnumbering his. Just as she wretched the blade out for the boy, Ray latched onto her back, wrapping his arms around her chest and pulling her back with arm's alight, beginning to melt though her armor.  Jenna yelped at the heat and staggered backwards, grabbing Ray by the head and attempting to flip him over her head. Ray stayed steady through the pain of her fingers digging into his temples. He manged to sear holes through the metal with his fingertips before Jenna elbowed him in the side of the throat, knocking his air away and leaving him open to the other blow Jenna delivered. 

Ray hit the ground and gasped for air, kicking his feet up blindly to try and get a hit on Jenna as she jumped on him, delivering another earth shattering blow to his chest. Ray took in a deep breath and lit his body up, hitting Jenna's chest plate and melting straight through it. The Huntress cried out and stumbled back to her feet, growling loudly and kicking Ray in the ribs with her metal clad boot, finger bones shooting from either hand as she poised her new mini blades and plunged a set into Ray's stomach, breaking them off her fingertips and leaving them to melt on Ray's stomach. Ray screamed and extinguished the flames, looking down in horror as the pool of metal instantly cooled and hardened inside and out.

"Baby, I'm preying on you tonight  
Hunt you down eat you alive  
Just like animals, animals, like animals."

Jenna turned on her heels, staring wide eyed at the Siren boy and taking in the beast that was the giant grizzly bear that was now standing in between them. It's almost glowing brown eyes locked on hers as it bared it's massive teeth and let a low, blood thirsty rumbling gurgle in it's throat. Pulse spiking, Jenna foolishly dropped the blade and took a few steps back as her now panicked eyes flickered between the boy and the animal. The bear lumbered forward a few steps and sniffed the air in front of it, it's eyes darting to her side before it let out a bloodcurdling roar and rushed her. She brought her still knifed fingers up to protect her face, but the bear only took her hand in it's massive jaw and bit through the metal of her armor, gnawing her hand and chewing through the skin and muscle, Jenna screamed as she felt it's teeth pop through her joints. She slammed the side of her other fist into it's temple, causing it to release her hand.   
Clutching it to her burnt chest plate, she slammed her foot down onto a gray ball that had dropped from her pouch when she had struggled.  
Smoke exploded from the compressed ball and covered the area, giving the Huntress the perfect cover to run.

"Maybe you think that you can hide  
I can smell your scent from miles  
Just like animals, animals, like animals."

 Toby pointed towards the dropped dagger, which the bear smelled and gained the scent of the wounded female that still hung in the air. It dug it's massive claws into the snow and jetted forward, leaving massive foot prints as it aggressively tracked the woman down.

Toby, snapping out of his power high, quickly fought through the snow and fell to his knees down beside Ray, looking over him and down at the metal in his stomach.

"Ray, Ray speak to me!" Toby ran his hand over the now cold metal and dug his fingertips under the now metal spike plate, lifting it slightly. There was a spurt of blood that covered his hands and Ray's eyes shot open, his hand grabbing Toby's wrist as he drew blood from his lip.

"Nonono! Leave it in, i-it's keeping the blood in!" Ray rasped.

"Sorry! I didn't see what happened." Toby quickly apologized and slowly let the plate drop back down.

" She stuck those fucking finger knives in my gut and I accidentally melted them, It's not important, just get my team." Ray cleared his throat, managing to prop himself up on his elbows.

"Ray, I'm the enemy, they'll kill-"

"They didn't kill me." Ray slowly looked up at Toby. He didn't quite understand what the boy meant, but maybe he didn't want to. Getting to his feet, Toby nodded and took off into the woods.  
Ray knew the Siren had no clue where his team was, but he was just that, a Siren, he'd find them one way or another. There was no time to sit here and worry, though, he had his own problems to attend to.

  
He managed to roll onto his knees, one hand holding the spike plate so it wouldn't slip out and kill him from the blood loss,  and the other still propping him up so he didn't impale himself forward. With a large breath in, Ray began to focus all his attention on the small fire burning in his hand,re-melt the metal. He tried to ignore the pain and the burn as the molten metal trickled from his wounds and down his hand, landing on the snow and melting it instantly. When he guessed that most of the metal had left from the puncture wounds and he let out a sigh of relief, rolling back onto his back and taking in another deep breath. He watched a few more breaths of air escape him in visible puffs before he closed his eyes, applying pressure to the wounds to stop the bleeding and listening for any signs of people drawing near him..

But all he heard was the uncomfortable roaring of that bear.

 

**_XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx_ **

 

Ryan felt like he was wading through maple syrup as his body moved forward without his permission. To where? He didn't know. He had tried fighting, screaming, struggling, but eventually gave up and let his body move towards it's inevitable destination as he tried to look through blurred eyes to find the person who was lulling him out. 

"And I'll save ya when the sky falls  
Can you hear the siren call?  
So together we can break down the walls  
Can you hear the siren call?  
Now I'm everywhere you know  
That I'll never let you go  
Cos I'll save ya when the sky falls  
Can you hear the siren call?  
  
Can you hear the siren call?"

As fast as the grand illusion had started, it was shattered. Ryan felt all his limbs switch back into his control and he found himself standing along with Geoff and Jack in font of Toby, who was perched on a rock. Ryan tried to take in his surroundings and shook the grogginess from his mind just in time to see Geoff lunge at Toby, grabbing two handfuls of his dirt stained suit and yanking him roughly forward. Looking straight into his eyes with a flash through his pupils like lightning.

 _ **"Where. is he?"**  _ Geoff ordered more than asked. Toby pointed before his body could tell him to and Geoff followed his point into the brush, tossing him aside and running into the wood. Toby took a few seconds to calibrate what happened as he picked himself up off the ground and looked back at the two other men in a slight panic. To Toby's surprise, they both just smiled at him. 

"He's just worried right now." Jack assured as he limped slightly around the rock and followed that path Geoff had made through the brush. Ryan didn't speak, he just walked to Toby and smiled, ushering him forward. Confused, but more happy about still being alive, Toby followed the path back to where he had left Ray.

 

**_XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx_ **

 

Ray's eyes bolted open as he saw Geoff leaning over him, his head blocking out the rays of light that were coming in through the trees. His eyes fluttered as he looked at the washed out faces of Ryan and Jack as they joined him, taking in their oddly concerned looks. When had they gotten there? Had he fallen asleep? He felt Geoff take his hand and a warm liquid began to spill down both sides of his stomach. Was he still bleeding?

Geoff's look of concern grew bigger as he turned over his shoulder to talk to Jack, but his words never made it to Ray's ears, nor did Jack's reply. Just a barely audible ringing was left for his hearing. Geoff got to his feet and switched positions with Jack, letting the environmental take the job of applying pressure to Ray's wounds. They mouthed a few more words while Jack got to his knees and the other two Achievement Hunters took a step back.   
Ray focused on the pressure on his stomach and closed his eyes, but it didn't last long. A bullet of sound came flying back to him, which he quickly found was his own sharp scream, as something seemed to shoot into the wounds, something  _inside_ of him then quickly spread throughout the entirety of his wound before the other end of it jutted out of him. He slowly lifted his head, screaming again as he saw the vines all interlock before begin to slink off of Jack's hands and tie themselves around his waist.

"Jack, what the fuck are you doing!?" Ray yelled, trying to scoot back and then yelling out again when the vines tightened.

"Ray, it's the only way to completely stop the bleeding!" Jack yelled over him, removing his hands as the last vine slithered off him. "You were losing too much blood!"

Ray pushed himself onto his elbows and rolled over again, trying to get to his feet and finally doing it with some help from Ryan. He clung to the man for a few seconds before slowly steadying himself. He let Ryan's arm go and looked over the faces of his team, someone was missing. 

"Where's Michael" Ray's heart skipped a beat as his eyes fell on Geoff. 

"He said he was going to find you, he couldn't wait anymore and we couldn't hold him back." Geoff's throat visibly tightened as his eyes widened slightly.

"I know." Toby mumbled just loud enough to break through the cold winter breeze, flinching slightly as all the eyes rested on him.

"I-I sent him after Jenna."

A scream.

 

**_XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx_ **

 

Jenna sprinted as fast as she could, adrenaline filling every once of her body as she drifted in the snow, making a sharp left into the clearing and hearing the giant weight that was the bear shift behind her with another mountainous roar. Her lungs were burning, begging for her to stop and take in a proper breath of air as she sprinted around another set of trees, The clearing opened up in front of her and gave way to the still pried open sky from her first kill. The bear broke through the trees like twigs and powered after her, head bowed and teeth bared.   
Jenna gambled a glance over her shoulder at the beast trudging after her, taking in a few moments of it's ferocious stature before something caught her foot and she went straight down into the snow.

She cursed and quickly flipped over to untangle herself from whatever had caught her and noticed the familiar brown and red curls that tumbled over Marzia's destroyed face as Jenna's foot rested in the nook in between her shoulder blade and wing. She would of kicked out of the way if she had a chance, but before she could even think again the mountain giant grabbed a mouthful of her arm and began painfully dragging her to the middle of the field. Jenna tried to get to her feet, punching the bear's skull again and again looking for a soft spot. She managed to jab it in the eye and make it release her.

She got to her feet and immediately smashed it's eye again, causing it to give a roar in pain and slash her arm in anger. With a quick snap Jenna smashed the bear's side with her boot, hard enough to at least crack a rib. The beast swung quickly and outstretched it's massive paw, lashing Jenna's face with deep cuts and sending her spiraling to the ground. Her head hit the ground and bounced back, sending stars into her vision. She shook her head and noticed a bit too late that the bear had charged her again, digging it's ginormous back claws into her legs to keep her from moving and snarling inches from her face.

"Sadistic little bitch" The words came from the animal in a horse, bass voice. 

Jenna's eyes widened before she let a daring smile creep onto her face. "You don't even know the half of it." 

She quickly reached for the Thunderblade she had and then her short laugh stopped in her throat when the image of it on the ground as she turned to run flooded her mind. 

The grizzly snarled loudly and sunk it's dagger like teeth into Jenna's arm once more, clamping down to the bone and taking in the sweetness of Jenna's screams. The Huntress rammed her fist into it's skull once more to trigger another release, but this one did not come. The bear only grinded it's teeth down inside of her and left bite marks on he bones. It slammed it's massive paw into the middle of her chest, curling it's claws into her armored chest plate and pulling her arm back in it's massive jaws.   
Jenna shrieked at the uncontrollable immense pain and the purely horrifying sound of her bone breaking in half, flesh tearing open to reveal her muscles stretching to the point of threatening to drag everything else right out of her skin. The beast reared back a few more times before they both started to feel the limb coming lose and the arm started to pop. Jenna's head snapped down to see her veins being ripped out of her left arm like breaking strings, popping like party favors as the steaming, dark red liquid started to pour from both sides.   
She screamed out again, flailing her body to try and find any way to get free, her other arm shaking violently with panic, pain, and fear as she ripped open another pouch on her leg and pulled out a small black cloth. The bear spotted it and gave one more violently large tug as she slammed the handkerchief into the snow and was overtaken by a black flash of light and the ominously chilling toll of a grandfather clock.

When the snow that had been kicked up finally cleared, the bear was standing in a circle of blood, panting heavily with Jenna's left arm between his teeth.

It looked up to the sky to see the bleachers alive with the sound of cheers.

"Amazing! The Huntress has fled!" Burnie shouted.

 

  ** _XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx_**

 

"Oh my god, we're saved!" Jack cheered, looking up at the screen with wide eyes as it switched from the bear fleeing the scene to a sweeping view of Achievement Hunter and the lone Siren. 

"We won!" Ray exclaimed, getting a bit too excited and having to hold onto Ryan's shoulder to keep himself steady.

"Not yet." Geoff crossed his arms, gesturing to Toby. Toby swallowed and take a few steps back, looking between all of them. 

"Y-you arn't gonna kill me are you? I just helped you guys take her down!" The Siren stumbled over his words, taking another step back as Geoff began to head towards him.

"Listen kid, I'm grateful that you helped Ray and all, but you're the single thing standing between us and the win. The weight of the many outweigh the needs of the few, now get over here." Geoff reached for the boy, a swift moving figure swooped in and caught his arm, spinning him around to face Micheal. The pale boy, arm still clutched in his teeth, turned his head slowly to the side and spit out the appendage before looking back at him. 

"You can't kill him after he helped us save Ray." He spoke slowly, blood dripping slightly from the corners of his mouth. Geoff, looking the boy over, dropped his hands.  
  
"I'm glad you're okay." He said, and turned his back to the Siren. Michael smiled approvingly, doing the same. Ray glanced questioningly at the act playing out before him, which was also carried out by Ryan and Jack. Ray looked to Toby, who looked back and nodded to him with a sad but grateful smile. Ray slowly turned to face the opposite direction, not losing his questioning look.  There was a thunk behind them and the crowd erupted with Burnie among them.

 

"And as if to wrap up a nail biting battle that left us all on the edge of our seats, the last of Tube has given into Achievement Hunter! By default Achievement Hunter w-WAIT, WAIT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WHAT IS THAT!?"

 

Burnie pointed out into the arena, Ray turned around to see Toby on his knees, also looking behind him to the white figure that was approaching the group. Toby immediately recognized the blank, white mask accompanied with the snow white suit. 

"Cry?!" Toby got up, looking towards the masked man, but the tall boy stopped and made no more movement towards them, slowly shaking his head. Everyone watched as he slowly grabbed the bottom of his mask and lifted it up, revealing  a pair of piercing green eyes flashed over them with a dorky smile to match. 

"GAVIN!" Michael cried, pushing passed Geoff and almost tackling the Brit to the ground. Ray stared in disbelief as the rest of Achievement Hunter went to join them. 

 

"UNBELIEVABLE, ACHIEVEMENT HUNTER IS BACK IN FULL EFFECT AND THEY TAKE THE OPENING MATCH DUE TO A FORFEIT!" Burnie ran his hands through his hair was a gawking expressing.

The team all exploded in cheers with the crowd as they basked in the final glory of their win. 

Toby looked on, he had lost, his friends were dead. It did hit him hard, it truly did...but he found himself smiling along with the other boys.

This wasn't a winning team to them,

it was a family.


	11. The Dueling Jasmine.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray finally gets some of his questions answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took SO LONG.  
> Procrastination turned into MAJOR writer's block.
> 
> I hope this helps clear just a few things up for you guys.
> 
> KUDOS AND CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISISM WELCOMED!

It took Micheal, Gavin, Geoff, and Ryan to hold Ray down on the couch as Jack attempted to remove the vines from his wounds.

"Ray, sit the fuck still!" Michael shouted over Ray's screams as he shifted all of his weight onto Ray's arm to keep him still.

 **"YOU TRY THIS!"**  Ray shrieked as the vines loosened around his waist. Jack quickly plucked the wiggling plant from Ray's wound, causing it to open back up and start bleeding again. Ray groaned in pain as he felt blood begin to drip down his side again. 

"Can you go any faster?!" Gavin panicked as he was almost lifted off the ground by Ray's leg as he kicked again. 

"Not without hurting him more!" Jack gently took another vine in his hand and yanked it out with another yelp and spurt of liquid.

Ray growled and fried the rest of the vines, reducing them to cinders before Jack could touch another one. Jack looked at the ashes on his stomach and swallowed, moving out of the way and letting Joel take his place. 

"Jeez kid, why are you always impaled with something when I see you?" the older man joked as he dusted off the ashes and pressed his palms over the range of holes and closed his eyes. "These are pretty deep too, what the hell got a hold of you?"

"Someone sent a Huntress into the field," Michael mumbled as he watched Joel's glowing palms slowly erase Ray's wounds one by one. 

"No shit!" Joel looked over at him, applying more pressure to Ray's stomach as his skin scabbed before healing over completely. 

"Yeah, but we knocked her right down!" Gavin added as he finally let go of Ray's leg.

"You mean Ray, Toby, and Michael did?" Ryan smirked as Gavin's self entitled smile disappeared off his face and was replaced with a pout. 

"I'd rather remember when I can't, " Geoff smiled as Joel spun around and went to repair his cracked ribs. He healed Geoff up then moved to Ryan's leg and chest, then Jack's arm, Michael's eye and side, and ended on Gavin's ear and shoulder. 

"At least we won." Ray hopped to his feet, smiling down at his new stability. The group checked for anymore problems, but found none.

"Ready?" Kerry asked vaguely to the group as he pushed himself off the wall. They all nodded and proceeded to the exit as shadow boy threw a blanket of darkness over them. 

And like that, they were gone.

 

_**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx** _

 

The night was alive with the buzz of the city. The Achievement Hunter boys stared up in awe at the giant screens that illuminated New York's streets and diminished the need for street lights. They watched as adds and logos cascaded across the TVs like fireworks. They listened as Jason Derulo's  _Don't Wanna Go Home_ blasted from the near by club that was in full swing. They all tried to take in the new information...All except Ray.  
He had seen this all before. He grew up on these streets, worked these streets. It was all so familiar to him that he could tell you anything from the best place to flag down a cab to the where to find the best working girls on the strip. Nothing here surprised him...nothing except for the way Joel had just turned right off of Broadway, heading away from the light and into the flower district.

Ray now kept his eyes locked on Joel. They were supposed to be going out for dinner and drinks, but that was all back there. All the flower distract had to offer was, you guessed it, flower shops and nurseries. It was barely lit with a couple of street lamps because no one ever stayed back here long at night, if anyone came through at all. No restaurants or bars ever existed down here-except for that one? What the fuck? Ray literally shook his head as he tried to get a better look at the purple awning and red draping sateen curtained shop they were approaching. From the outside it seemed to be a moderately big, dimly lit place that sat snugly between an exotic flower shop and a rose nursery.  
It defiantly stuck out, but it somehow also seemed like it was supposed to be there.

"This is one of the best places in town. Top notch," Joel assured as they approached the door, a dark purple wood with a brass handle and gold initials across the chilled window.  _DJ_ , what could that stand for? 

Kerry opened the door and ushered the boys in. The entrance was small, so they had to file in one by one. As Ray walked in he was hit by powerful the power smell of mint in the cold air, then he felt the floor shake, an earthquake in New York? No, wait, he was shaking! The bass of a loud hip hop song beat through his chest, making him almost feel like he was being pushed back by the sheer force of it. Ray stood and looked around for the speaker it had to be coming from, but Michael pulled him across the place and into the chair of the only large table on the left hand side, all the other, smaller tables hugged the two large window with a few scattered around the middle. 

Ray spotted the stage and stared at it, but it was empty; a wide array of instruments propped up against the wall and the stage was dark. Actually, the whole restaurant was empty, where was that song coming from, where was everybody? 

Suddenly the massive beat stopped and the guitar and keyboard that it overpowered faded on their last chord. The group heard soft murmuring from somewhere behind them followed by a girl who shouted: "OH SHIT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO OPEN TWO HOURS AGO."

There was the banging of a few things hitting the ground and several pairs of feet rushing up some stairs. 

The group all looked behind them fast enough to see a black metal door that read "Employees Only" burst open and smash into the back wall. From the darkness sprung a boy in a red vest and black dress shirt along with black pants and black sneakers. He sprinted and threw his feet forward, skidding on his heel right up to the table. He shoved his hand into the pocket of his side pouch strapped to one leg and took out a notepad, flipping it open and grabbing the pen he had resting behind his ear. With a bright smile his brown curls bounced as he flicked his wrist out to glance down at his watch before touching the pen to the order sheet with an almost robotic movement. 

"Welcome to the Dueling Jasmine, my name is Jared and I'll be your server tonight, can I start you off w-" There was another loud blast of music from behind the kitchen window and another girl's voice yelled out "Sorry!"  
The girl the voice belonged to, dressed similarly to Jared, stumbled passed the table struggling to hold a giant speaker in her arms.

"-ith any drinks?" Jared continued, looking over the obviously confused group.

"Spiked cherry blossoms all around," Joel answered. Jared scribbled quickly on his notepad and nodded, walking briskly into the kitchen. 

Ray's attention turned to the girl, thin with an oddly perfect curl to her bangs, as she plugged in equipment and pushed instruments into their stands located on the stage. 

Another woman appeared from the kitchen in what was now looking to be the waiting staff's attire. She nervously moved some tables into the middle to fill it up and ran to the door, pulling it open and stepping out of the way as 20 or so people flooded the establishment. As they took their seats at the bar and filled up a couple of tables she heaved a sigh or relief as she grabbed an arm full of menus, passing them around and apologizing while she quickly and made her way over to the Achievement Hunter's table.

"Who the fuck let you in here?" she smirked sarcastically to Joel and Geoff, who flashed her matching middle fingers. The rest of them stayed silent as the three conversed.

"So, you finally moved locations?" Geoff said, looking around. "Definitely bigger than your last place."

"If you're referring to my kitchen, than yeah. Got new staff too. Some old friends." The woman smiled, fastening a white lotus to her hairpin keeping her bangs out of her face, which were surprisingly long for her pixie cut. 

Jared pushed through the kitchen door with two trays carrying tea cups, spinning one on his finger before setting the trays down on the table. 

"Some boss, forgetting to open her own restaurant on time," he chuckled, earning a smack from the pixie.

"Talking is not what I pay you for," she smiled. 

"You don't pay me at all."

"I pay you by letting you sleep in my house and eat out of my pantry, now go look pretty over at table 7" She jabbed him in the stomach with one index finger and pointed to a group of girls chattering with one another. Jared flashed her a smile and adjusted his crimson tie, turning and walking over to assist the ladies now looking him over.

"Oh my god I love seeing people strive to get something they can't. Good times...My name's Sarah, by the way." She flashed a smile down to the table of still confused faces. 

"I own this place, been here for about 3 months now." She smiled, taking our her own notepad. "I'd love to stay and talk, but I've got orders to fill and pieces to preform, ta ta for now." She did a small salute and practically ran to the table across the way. 

"I'm so confused" Ray said to himself, taking the tea vessel and looking at it. It was a traditional china tea cup with a white-ish caramel substance in it and a small Lilly floating in the cup. He took a gulp of the warm, milky liquid and immediately felt the sting in his throat as his eyes began to water. He took a couple seconds to recollect himself and swallow the liquid instead of spitting it out. Vodka, mixed with what seemed to be warm milk and butterscotch.   
He looked around, everyone seemed fine with the concoction. Jack dipped his finger into it, allowing the Lilly to climb up and grow. It's vines and leaves sprouting from the two original petals and fastening into a makeshift bracelet. 

"You okay?" Kerry asked, setting his cup down.

"Yeah, just, didn't expect this to be so strong," he lied, he didn't expect to be drinking at all tonight. Though with this sudden change of life style, getting hammered would be the least of his problems.

"It's an acquired taste. Funny, I didn't like this place at first, but I guess it grew on me." He chuckled, pushing the Lilly around with his finger. Ray smiled and nodded, taking another, smaller sip.

"So, I'm guessing you want those answers." Kerry stretched his arms over his head before leaning back in his chair. "What do you want to know first?"

Ray's mind suddenly cleared. He remembered the life he had before this, how did he just abandon that to go play some game he didn't even understand with people he trusted just because they didn't kill him? What was he even doing? He looked back to his den, now skeptical. Well, he was in too deep now to leave them, and if he's being perfectly honest with himself he's better off here than he was with any of them. He searched his mind, pulling the biggest of all his questions out of his brain.

"What is the Umber Games?"

"Umber?" Kerry cocked an eyebrow. "It's the 'Under' games. Anyway. The Under Games themselves are only about 10 years old."  Kerry paused and took one look at Ray that told him he needed to be more detailed. "It was created back when people like us first started showing back up in the world. Apparently there are traces of mutants all throughout history, but they were all covered up. The leaders of the world decided that at the time we are too SCARY to be known to the population."

Kerry flexed his fingers into air quotes and took a pause to drink. Ray looked at the rest of his den and found that they were now all listening too, their eyes blissfully beginning to cloud like the drink. Ray himself had begun to feel more relaxed then usual as well. Maybe that's why they called it _Spiked_ cherry blossoms.

"Anyway," Kerry continued. "Our kind disagreed, naturally. We started with peaceful protests, ya know? Just to show people we weren't monsters. Elementals provided the homeless with fresh water and cooked food. The shape-shifters ran petting zoos and story book reenactments for the little kids. It was going pretty well, until one day the police showed up and it all turned violent. They tried to arrest a water elemental for having powers when she was helping a family sift fresh waster from a polluted stream. No one really knows who threw the first punch, but everyone was in an uproar afterwards. The government quickly made a statement that said any mutant was to be hunted down and exterminated on sight. So most of us went into hiding. That worked for a while, but they weren't sleeping well at night or some shit. They started telling all the people they couldn't find that they can either keep on fighting and die like that, or-"

"Submit themselves for euthanasia," Michael mumbled over his cup, keeping his eyes pinned on Kerry.

Kerry nodded. "There was a big political debate about it. People, mutant and non, protested. All saying it was manslaughter."

"Genocide," Ryan corrected.

"While the powers were faffing about up there debating what to do, we were still dying," Gavin sighed.

"Good, innocent men," Joel added.

"Women," Geoff stirred his drink.

"Children," Jack pushed his spoon around on the table.

Ray slumped back in his seat and tried to take in this information. He didn't know whether he was better off back on the streets or not. Was this all still happening now? Was he blissfully unaware or painfully ignorant? No cop had ever looked at him more than once in a passing glance. How would they even know he had powers?

"The protesters won, right? That's why we have the games instead?" Ray didn't like the nervousness he caught in his own voice. How were the games any better than that?

"Yes. The government stopped the killings, but refused to acknowledge the mutants as equals, or even people," Kerry continued. "So they decided all powered people must compete in the Under Games, not only did it turn profit to the cities to thrive as a gambling game for the rich, it was population control. So our numbers never overpowered theirs "

Ray nodded, leaning forward more and straining to listen over all the equipment testing on stage.

"They sent out trainers to recruit the people willing to go," he gestured to Achievement Hunter, then pointed to himself, "and set bounties on the rest. $1,000 for anyone that can give the game another contender."

 "That's how I ended up here." Kerry continued, annoyance covering his low tone as he leaned back in his chair and gulped at his drink. "I told one guy after he saw my shadow move without me, and the bitch turns me in! 4 years of friendship and the fucker sells me for $1,000!"

Ray's attention then snapped to his den mates. Had they all been sold into these games as well? Why would anyone go into something like this willingly?

"Did they. Did that happen to you guys too?" he asked, his drink somehow finding it's way into his hand. The stuff was almost addicting after the first few sips.

"Let's all have a story time." Joel interrupted, reminding Ray he was there after his long stretch of silence. "Ryan, we'll start with you."

Ryan leaned on the table, setting his drink down. "Well, I actually went willingly."

"Why?" Ray inquired, smiling slightly as all the instrument testing stopped. A quick glance over showed the girl with the amp singing what seemed to be a soft Japanese melody. Jared was also up there, following her lead with his guitar.

"To satisfy my craving for delicious murder!" Ryan chuckled, earning Ray's slightly worried eyes upon him after looking around the group. "Kidding. I was never really in hiding. I was the only one of the children to inherit my powers from my father, so having a pretty normal family helped the police to overlook us when things started getting rough. I went to normal school had normal friends and got a normal job waiting tables. I worked at the restaurant for 5 years and Ester was the only one to ever call me out on having powers. I still have no idea how she found me, but we both knew why. I decided that going willingly might be a bit nicer than being dragged there on a bounty. So I agreed to be recruited and a couple of days later I met Geoff and Jack and began my training."

 All the hazed eyes moved to Jack, who put his cup down and smiled. "I actually grew up in a colony; it was a kinda safe community that was mostly people with powers, and the people who didn't have them kept their mouths shut about it," Jack quickly explained after glancing at Ray. "When I was 19 I moved away to start my own flower shop. _Jack's flower shop_ , it was the best name ever. Apparently my plants got too big or something because the old couple who ran a coffee shop next to me got suspicious. Next thing I know I had Ester buying my whole shop in exchange for me playing Under Games. With Geoff already in, I had no choice." He rolled his gaze over to Geoff, who huffed and grunted.

"So you two knew each other before this?" Ray asked.

"Yeah, we grew up in the same colony," Jack smiled.

"Our families went WAY back," Geoff explained.

"Why did you go into the Under Games, Geoff?" Ray questioned.

"Well, let's just say Geoff has a short temper and a big mouth." Jack eyed him.

  
Geoff smiled. "I couldn't just leave Jack to face the big bad world by himself, so I invited myself to go along with him. We worked together for a little while, but he fired me," Geoff pouted at Jack.

"All of my plants kept playing pranks on me!" Jack crossed his arms and looked back to Geoff, who covered his mouth in a chuckle.

"Whoever said plants aren't smart is stupid," Geoff added as he continued. "I ended up working in the coffee shop next door. It was going great until one day an order misunderstanding caused me to get angry...which caused me to tell him to go break his nose...which he had to do because I used my powers to make him...which made that one guy call me in. Yeah, then they gave me to Ester; so I told her about you." Geoff finished quickly and gave a wide smile, trying hard to fight off the buzzed laughter as Jack squinted at him.

The whole table broke out in small smiles and laughter and Ray was reminded that all these pawns of a game were people of this earth.

"Guess it's my turn." Michael announced, gulping down the rest of his drink before he spoke. "Unlike all these HALF BREEDS, my whole family is a bunch-o-freaks. I mean, you had to be back in Jersey. We did our best to hide: never used our powers outside of the house, never talked to anyone about them. We kept to ourselves and everything was ok. My father was an elemental and my mother was a shape shifter, so I got to turn into animals and my brother got to hover rocks," he smiled.

  
"One day, out of the blue, my dad came home and told us that we all needed to get out of there right now. Someone had seen him helping someone with his powers and called him in. He said they were on the way to our house and we all needed to leave, but not together. He threw me and my brother a bag with some food and a blanket and told us our mom would find us in a week. I was so scared." Michael's eyes dropped down to his empty cup. Losing his train of thought for a split second.

"I... My mother walked us down a couple blocks before she said her goodbyes and took off down the street. She didn't cry that day, but I know she wanted to. Me and my brother wandered the streets for a few hours, getting scared by police sirens we heard in the distance, until we finally came up on a zoo. I told him I was going to hide there and he said he wasn't going to leave me, so he buried himself about 10 feet under ground in a small air pocket and I flew over the gates as a pigeon."

Ray nodded, leaning closer. " So, they caught you?"

"Yeah, the zoo staff finally noticed that there was one more tiger in the enclosure than there used to be. They called the games and here I am. As far as I know, I'm the only one who got caught." Michael was back to his regular tone, which made everyone breathe a small sigh of relief.

"I'm not worried about them though, they're smart. They were some of the richest people in Jersey. They got away, I know it." He sighed with a smile. Gavin laid his head on his shoulder and smiled too.

"I was the only person in my family that had any powers," Gavin started, not picking his head up. "My mom and dad never really knew what to do with me. My brother loved it, I used to give him piggy back rides all the way across London and back in the time it took my parents to walk the dog."

"I went through school just fine, never really had any problems. The only other person who knew about my powers was my best mate, Dan. Anyway, what happened was one day me and Dan came to America to help on a movie set. It was just top, but on the last day we were supposed to be there, I used my powers to save a girl from getting flattened by the stage lights. Everyone applauded me and thanked me, so I still don't know who called me in, but the next thing I know, I'm getting detained by airport security and they're holding tazers to my neck and shouting threats at me. These people came and took me away in cuffs, and they dumped me in a room with Ester and these knob heads." He giggled, looking at all the mixed faces.

The table went quiet for a second, the silence being filled by a beautiful rendition of "I will love you, always." from Lilo and Stitch. Jared's fingers danced across a jade faded ukulele, his eyes closed.

"So," Ryan broke the silence. "Ray, we don't know that much about you. Care to tell us your story?"

All the eyes shifted to Ray and he felt the same itchy burning in his palms as when he had first woken up in their house.

"Well, um, there's not much to tell." Ray scratched at his palms with the tips off his fingers. "I was born here in New York. My mother worked three jobs to support me and my brothers, and I never knew my father. My mom always talked about how messed up and terrible my dad was, apparently he was the one with powers. When I first started showing signs of being an elemental, my mother would cry a lot and beg me not to be like him. Not knowing him, it never fazed me until one day I got in a fight and accidentally burned this kid. After that my mom... packed up my brothers and her and told me they were moving. I tried to tell her that that kid had been bullying me for years and that he deserved it but she wouldn't listen. She just kept telling me I was just like my father. She kept my brothers in her room until the day they left, so I don't know if they hated me or... or if they even knew that I wasn't coming. Now they're in god-knows where and I am- er, was- a street rat."

Ray glanced up to see everyone listening intently, so he kept talking.

"Little while after I started living on the streets, I got picked up by a group of thieves who promised to feed me and get me out of the rain if I melted alarm systems and pushed my hand through a few safes. I was with them for three years before they told me they wanted me to stake out your guys' place."

"Wait, nothing was melted in our house." Geoff inquired.

"I wore gloves when I was by myself. I didn't trust myself alone if someone saw me and put up a fight..." Ray looked down at Michael's scar around his wrist. The auburn haired boy caught him and shoved his hand in his hoodie pocket.

"Wow, that's quite a tale." Michael re-directed Ray's gaze to his face.

"I guess," Ray shrugged.

Joel yawned and glanced at his watch. "Getting late, I think we should start rapping this up."

"Ray, if you got any more questions, now's the time," Kerry added.

Ray's brain kicked into overdrive and all the questions he'd shoved into the back of his mind came rocketing up.

"Gavin, how did you get that mask?" Ray jabbed his finger in the direction of Cry's mask which Gavin had strapped to his hip.

Gavin looked down and ran his hand over it before turning his eyes back to Ray. "I ran into Cry during the pit training, he helped me hide. When it came time for us to fight in the arena, he told me he didn't want to kill anyone. We took out the camera on purpose and started traveling together, he told me how he was dragged in there on a bounty and all he wanted to do was get home. I know I should've been able to kill him so WE could get home, but I just-"  
  
"Wait, is he still alive?" Michael asked, pulse quickened.

"Mm mm." Gavin shook his head, taking the mask off of his hip and handing it to Michael. "His powers were in his mask. When he put it on someone else, He morphed into them."

Michael raised an eyebrow at the Brit, fitting the mask to his face.

Gavin looked down as he felt his nose begin to flatten and round out. Geoff nearly jumped out of his seat when he glanced over and saw Gavin's spikey hair begin to lengthen and curl, slowly fading into a dark auburn. Ryan gazed in curiosity as the last of Gavin's features changed into Michael's. His jaw widened and freckles popped up over his cheeks and nose. He cleared his throat and spoke in Michal's voice. Michael jumped as he listened to himself talk with the Brit's twang.

"Just before the hunter found us, he...he slapped the mask on me and shoved me into the brush. Then he-"

"He was the Gavin we saw on the television." Jack's eyes widened.

"Holy shit..." MIchael mumbled under the mask, taking it off and making Gavin snap back to Gavin.

"How'd you get the mask to work for you?" Ray asked.  
  
"I have no idea.." Gavin shrugged. "Couldn't figure it out."

Ray sat back and tried to take that in. If the powers were in his mask, then he wasn't a person with powers. So, why did the games take him? Well, this wasn't the weirdest thing that's happened so far; next question.

"Someone tell me what exactly Hunters and Huntresses are?"

"I can." Ryan raised his hand. "When a team wins a game, each person on the team is offered to stay and compete in future games as a Hunter or a Huntress. Think of them like an extra bidding token.  People can pay for them to go into the arena so that the team the buyer is routing for can win, but there is also a chance that they will betray the buyer and go after the other team instead. Or they could even kill everyone so no one wins."

"Lovely." Ray swallowed.

"Yeah, I've never seen one taken down before." Ryan flashed a thumbs up towards Michael, who wiped his mouth and laughed.

"Anything else?" Kerry raised an eyebrow, obviously tired.

Ray smiled, standing up from his seat. "Nothing that I need you two here."

"Good, let's bounce." Joel stood up from his seat, throwing a few bills on the table to cover the drinks. "We got a full day tomorrow, more training exercises."

"Son of a butt, dude, really?" Geoff stood up with the rest of his den, rubbing his face.

"Bummer." Jack yawned.

 

The two teams left the restaurant and exchanged goodbye's before heading to their homes.

 

**XxXxXxXx68INDUSTRIESXxXxXxXx **

 

Ray sighed quietly as he stared blankly up at the ceiling above the Lad's bed. He glanced at the clock, 1:26AM. He flipped onto his stomach and closed his eyes, opening them to find Michael's dark eyes staring into his.

"You can't sleep either?" He asked quietly.

"No" Gavin answered him, propping himself up on his elbow to see over Ray.

"...Why did you guys accept me?" Ray blurted out, looking between them.

"Because you're like us." Gavin replied quickly and smiled, looking over to Michael. "Right, Boi?

"We have the same chance of dying out there as we do in here." Michael answered honestly, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to the window.

Ray looked between them as a soft smile crept onto his face. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Do you think your people will come looking for you?" Gavin poked, laying his head back down.

Ray's smile disappeared. The people he was with had barely crossed him mind until now. Surely they had noticed that he hadn't come back with this house's haul, were they looking for him?

"I sure hope not, Buddy." Ray sighed.

 

"I think you shouldn't talk so loud, it disturbs the peace.." Ryan mumbled from across the room before he dropped his head back down onto his pillow.

Gavin giggled and shushed the other Lads, closing his eyes and trying to force sleep. Michael shook his head and laid down on his back, closing his eyes and mumbling goodnight to the other two.

Ray smiled and slowly took his hands out from under the covers and laid them on top, warming the covers. He let his eyes close as he thought of the challenges ahead. They weren't going to be easy, that much was obvious. He knew now that these challenges were going to be some of the most trying times in his life, and for everyone else. It was going to take everyone working as a team to get them through these games.

He was willing to help them as much as he could.

 

But as he slipped off to sleep, he couldn't help but wonder if there was another way out of these games...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you guys feel informed now?
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to write a comment and I'll answer it as soon as I see it!
> 
> Thanks!! :D


	12. A Mishap Gone Right.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan's screw up gets Ray thinking.

_As the smoke cleared from burning through the bathroom door, Ray reached through and unlocked it. Looking into the dark room, he raced in to help his mother off the ground._

_"Mom, mom get up!" Ray yelled as he tried to help her off the floor, looking at her tangled hair and ripped clothes._

_"Get off of me, you monster!" She cried, pushing the teen away and shattered back onto the floor. Ray winced at the new claw marks her fingernails made._

_"You went to see Frank again, didn't you...?" Ray mumbled to himself before grabbing her hands and lifting her up. He gently brushed her hair behind her ear and wiped her tear.  
"Mama, it's just me." He said gently as she raised her gaze to meet his. _

_"Ray?" She sobbed._

_Ray nodded and reached over to flicker the lights a few times; the bulb was burnt out. Ray sighed to himself, flicking his fingers and creating a small flame from his fingertip absentmindedly. His mother's expression went three shades whiter as she started to babble in a panic._ _"No..."_

 _"Mom, it's Ray. Now where is-" Ray was cut off by a slap that extinguished the flame and sent him to the floor. He slammed his forehead hard on the counter and toppled to the floor, he felt the air being pushed from his lungs as his own mother used him as a step stool to get out of the room. Screaming, she ran into his brother's room and pulled him out to look at Ray, frantically pointing while backing behind him slightly. On the floor with a small pool of blood around his head, Ray looked up slightly and watched his brother shake his mother's arms off him and quickly kneel down beside him._ _Ray's brother called over the rest of his siblings to help pick his limp body up as Ray choked up a little blood before passing out._

 

 

Ray awoke in a gasping panic, his own sporadic breathing filling the room before the sounds of the Lads quickly sitting up, awoken from their dreams.

"Woah woah, calm down Ray," Gavin cooed quickly, slinging his arm over the elemental's shoulders.

"What the fuck's wrong, man?" Michael rubbed the sleep from his eyes and placed a tired hand on Ray's knee.

Ray tried to force his breathing to slow as he looked between the boys. He gulped a few more mouthfuls of air before he spoke.

"I-I'm ok, I just had a bad dream." he assured them, glancing at the clock. It switched from 3:59 to 4:00AM and the alarm started to blare.

Gavin reached over and turned it off. "We don't need two alarm clocks."

"Are you sure you're ok?" Michael questioned him again, glancing momentarily as the Gents rose from their bed and began getting dressed.

"I'm fine. Bad dreams happen to me a lot." Ray smiled and tried to be reassuring, Michael looked at him and raised an eyebrow, his gaze staying on him for a brief few moments before getting up and stretching.

"If you say so," he mumbled, rooting through his dresser for decent clothes.

Ray turned to Gavin to ask if he cold steal another pair of his clothes, but the Brit had already made the side of his bed and no doubt gotten up to go make breakfast. Michael threw some clothes at him and told him to get dressed. As he slipped the new pair of jeans on, he thought about one of the receding thoughts he had hours ago. Was fighting the only way to get out of the Umber Games. He slid the shirt over his head and thought about Cry. He refused to kill, but he didn't hide like Kerry had...had he known something they didn't? What kept him so calm through all of that?

"Hey, fire ferret. Better get a move on before all the food gets shoveled into someone else's mouth."

Ray snapped back to the present and looked over at Geoff, who jerked his chin towards the door and walked out. Ray followed, shoving the thoughts out of his mind for now and focusing on whatever banquet Gavin had prepared for them.

Once in the kitchen, Ray eyes lit up when he saw plates filled with buttered beagles and baked potatoes. He sat down and began stuffing his face before anyone had a chance to ask him anything. 

He thought about his fleeting thoughts from last night, there must have been some person who tried to escape from these games. If he could find a way out, he could get his whole team through and they could escape; but how? What would they even do after that? There's no way they could just go live a normal life after that. People would no doubt come after them to try and take them back. 

Ray's fork scratched against his bare plate and he realized he had already eaten everything. He got up and put the dishes in the sink, taking a detour from the couch and heading outside. 

The December air was chilly and made the hair on Ray's neck stand up. He leaned against the cold railing and watched his breath leave him with a puff of smoke. A few minutes passed peacefully like that before he heard the sliding glass door open and shut behind him. Gavin walked to his side as he pulled on his creeper hoodie,

"Cold as knobs out today, don't you want a jacket?" Gavin asked, tucking his hands in his pockets.

"Dude, I'm a walking space heater, I think I'll be fine." Ray joked, leaning on the railing to face him.

"Well, that's too bad, I guess you won't need THESE!" Gavin pulled Ray's old gloves out of his pockets and thrusted them into Ray's hands. Ray made a sort of surprised noise, looking down at his old garments. They were the old, tight fitting, leather gloves he had been given once he had joined the group of street rats. Somehow they felt like a link to the past, like putting them on would lead his old group right to him. He looked up and saw Gavin waiting eagerly, so he put them on anyway.

"Wow, where did you find these old things?" Ray smiled.

"We took them with your other clothes when you got here, it took ages to scrub all the blood out." Gavin nodded as he moved back and opened the sliding glass door once more. 

"Now come on, it's time to go!"

"Coming."

_**XxXxXxX68INDUSTRIESxXxXxXxX** _

Ray stayed perfectly still as he fell, waiting for his feet to hit the metal in the long corridor.

He knew it would be a bad day when he head-butted the couch in his den at terminal velocity. 

"OW, WHAT THE FUCK?!" Ray growled as he got to his feet and was immediately hit in the crotch by the entirety of Michael as he screamed out a continuous "FUCK!" This was followed by the rest of Achievement Hunter until they were all laying on the ground and groaning in pain. 

"Please stop breaking my things." Gus pleaded from his seat on the couch, looking down at the spilled drink on his lap.

"What the hell happened?" Geoff's voice cracked from where he laid motionless on the floor.

"Ryan is being a dick." Micheal grumbled, rubbing his now bruised side.

"Where is he?" Ray asked, eyeballing the portal they all flew out of.

Everyone's attention turned to the end portal. They waited for Ryan to come through apologizing or laughing, but their expectations were met with a hard silence. The portal stayed under thier gaze for a few more moments before it quivered and snapped shut.

A few more seconds passed coupled with a raise in confusion and slight panic before a familiar voice came from the loud speaker.

"Attention all employees and Den Leaders, Please take roster of all personnel and Den Mates as there is an unknown body in the 4th floor aquatic containment tank. Thank you!"

"Sounds like we have a new opening in AH." Jack joked as he took a seat on the couch. 

"I hope he can swim faster than the mermen, they're territory aggressive, " Gus sighed, moving and punching in some commands on his keyboard. 

"I'll get the debriefing ready, can someone go get him?" 

"I got it." Ray answered, turning and walking towards the door.

"There's an elevator down the hall and to the right, take it to the 4th floor and go right until you hit the water containers," Gus directed.

"Don't actually hit them!" Micheal warned half heartedly as the door shut behind Ray.

Ray shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked down the hall and into the elevator. For some reason, he was relieved to be away from everyone. He hadn't had any time by himself since they had caught him. Ray's heart pinged at the thought and he pressed the 4th button. His boss must have realized he was gone by now. Did he just think Ray was dead? Or did he possibly see him in the games? 

 If he was watching then he probably saw his and Michael's kiss - that damn kiss. Ray had never cared much for gender when it came to his relationships, but could he call it a relationship? They kissed on TV and suddenly they're a famous couple! The sex just reinforced it. Ray's heart did a flip. He really did like Michael but maybe jumping in the sack after three days of knowing each other wasn't the best idea.

Ray pushed the thoughts from his head when the elevator doors opened. He walked out and did an audible gasp at his surroundings.

On both his sides were massive tanks built into the wall. They stood about 80 feet tall and Ray couldn't see any visible back wall inside of them, but what he did see were spectacular creatures.

A pack of what could only can be described as sea dragons passed by the glass and let out a roar like that of a whale, but with a gurgling sound accompanying it. They were followed by a few mermaids who were obviously just as amazed as Ray was. As he walked down the seemingly unending hallway he came across orcas and sharks as well, though he had not a clue why they were among the mythical beasts in the cage.

After a small walk, Ray spotted an air pocket at the top of the cage with Ryan swimming around in it. Ray lit a flame in his hand and waved it around to signal him. Ryan spotted the lad and began to swim down to where he was on the other side.

Ray watched him swim down, the water was so clear that it was probably the only reason Ray saw the figure speed past behind Ryan. Ray was about to signal Ryan to the mysterious thing behind him when he saw a flash come from it's direction.The elemental focused on the being until it moved closer to the glass.

A merman was watching Ryan from behind a formation in the ornamental reef. Tendrils and curls of dark brown hair floated freely around his pale face and illuminated the pair of blue ringed eyes locked on Ryan's position. Ray found himself unable to look away from the boy. He watched his elegant fin curl out in front of him to keep himself steady behind the brush, royal red scales further clashing with his pale complexion.

Ray blinked out of his trance as Ryan tapped on the glass to get his attention. He made a circle with his finger and gestured for Ray to get back. The Puerto Rican nodded and instead stepped to the side and glanced back at where the merman was. The creature was still there, but now he held a small object in his hands. Ray squinted, but couldn't recognize what it was. He heard Ryan cast a portal on one side of the glass and watched the boy's face light up. 

He placed the object up to his face and it flashed a couple times, that's when Ray realized it was a camera.

"What are you doing with that?" Ray whispered to himself. The finned boy took another picture before ducking behind the coral. He watched Ryan for a few seconds more before hesitantly disappearing into the reef. Ray was pressed so closely to the glass to try and find a trace of him that he didn't see Ryan shoot out of the glass and hit the other glass in a wall of water.

The portal closed and Ryan fell to the floor, choking on a mouth full of salt water.

"How the hell did you get in there?" Ray asked, tearing his eyes away from the tank and helping Ryan to his feet.

"No fuckin' clue. Maybe I shot off more than one end portal?" Ryan questioned more to himself than Ray.

Ray just shrugged, Ryan's power mishap couldn't penetrate his thought process. All of his attention was devoted to that mystery boy with the camera. How did he find that camera? Didn't Gus say mermen were territorial, why didn't he attack?

"Let's get to the den, I want to change. I reek of salt and orca piss," Ryan complained, waving his hand in front of Ray's dazed face.

"Hello! Earth to Ray? Whats up with you?"

"Did you see any mermen in that tank?" Ray asked, catching Ryan off guard.

"Uh, no. Mermen are in the other tank. They have to be kept separate so they don't breed. Are you ok?" Ryan raised an eyebrow at the Lad's weird behavior.

"Just wondering. Let's go, Gus needs to get on with the debriefing." Ray stretched and began to walk back towards the elevator.

Ryan followed him closely, further complaining about his wet clothes; but Ray wasn't listening. He was far too busy thinking about how that boy could've gotten in there. Someone must have put him in the wrong tank. Or did he somehow manage to get into the other enclosure by himself?

Or maybe he just might have caught a mistake in someone's disguise.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, I wonder who that mystery boy is?  
> This is a Sub chapter, so I will post more soon.
> 
> Thanks.


	13. A Loss of Perspective.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three teams collide and Ray watches it all crumble. It all ends with him...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING AT THE END!
> 
> I'm sorry this is so long of a chapter, I didn't want to make another three part battle just yet!
> 
> Happy Reading!
> 
> Leave Kudos and a comment if you enjoyed!

"This match is going to be a three team progressive elimination match. In this arena there will be three boxes, one by land and two by sea. Inside these boxes are clues to finding the safe room somewhere in the arena." Gus pulled up a hologram of the arena and clicked on it, causing it to spin slowly.

"So it's like a big game of treasure hunt." Geoff looked over the arena.

"Basically. The team who finds the safe and locks themselves inside cannot be eliminated and is automatically advanced to the next round. The other two teams must fight for the last spot in the advancement," Gus explained.

Ray leaned in close to study every inch of the map, any way he and his team could escape harm is his top priority. Images of the merman still flashed through his mind when he tried his best to stop it. It was almost like someone kept yanking the memories back to the front of his mind. He tried his best to ignore it and listen to Gus.

"The three teams are going to be a mix of one A team and two B teams. I suggest you stay together for as long as you possibly can and split up once you get to the water, but I trust all of you to know what is best when you're out there." He nodded to the group, who nodded back. "Alright, dismissed, go get your gear on."

Everyone got up from their seats and retreated to the other room, There was not much talking as they rid themselves of their clothes and dawned their green and black suits once more.

Ray was further plagued by the images of the finned boy. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, succumbing to his mind just to see if it would ease with some thought. He brought the movie memory into the front of his brain and ran through everything he remembered. His eyebrows furrowed as his memory paused on a still image of the boy. Only his head peaked from behind the coral, his hair still floating around him and his eyes squinted slightly, almost quizzically, as he looked at Ryan. Ray's breathing quickened as his brain strained to do a mental zoom on his face. Then there was a shock, it felt as if his brain had twitched, and all of a sudden the face was blurred. Suddenly there were little features he couldn't see anymore, and he lost the ability to focus on it for too long. 

  
Ray's eyes snapped open and he bolted out the door, taking Geoff off his feet as he passed. He wasn't stupid enough to pass it off as a coincidence. Someone was just in his brain,  _looking through his memories._ He yelled something he couldn't understand at Gus and barreled out the door just in time to see a small figure slip behind the turn of the corner. He ran as fast as he could after it, almost falling over as he hit the far wall of the corner. He saw the figure running towards the last door at the end of the hallway, towards their den. Ray fired a flame ball from his hand and clipped it's side, sending the person toppling to the ground.   
Ray ran to them and grabbed their arm, using it to flip them over. He pulled back to punch the assailant with a burning fist but it extinguished as soon as he heard her sobbing. 

"Don't hurt me anymore, please..." she said with a few hiccups, her free arm clutching her side. Ray looked down at the charred hole he had made in her shirt and the fierce burn that he had caused. He realized the girl was a child. 

"Did you just do that to me?" Ray asked in a ordering tone. He couldn't let up because she was a little girl. They were equals in these games. 

"I'm sorry, I just came across it and I really like mermaids and..." she trailed off, wiping her tears. 

"So you stole my memory?" Ray growled, causing the girl to shrink into the floor.

"Just a little piece, that one was really pretty," she defended. "It seemed like you thought it was really pretty, too."

Ray's jaw went slack, but he didn't lower his fist. Oh god, he was threatening a little girl. Is this what he has been reduced to? Suddenly the thoughts from before seemed almost inhuman.

"Then why did you run from me just now?" he asked. Her face twitched for a second.

"Wouldn't you run if someone was chasing  _you_?" she asked honestly, tears dry and face showing a look of sarcasm.

"Yeah, I would." Ray let go of the girl and stood up, watching her struggle slightly to get to her feet. There were a few standing seconds of silence before the girl shifted on her feet.

"This really hurts." she said weakly, looking from the wound to Ray. "I have to go now. I need to get this bandaged before I go to the match." she said, cautiously watching Ray.

"Oh." Ray looked at her, surprised. Once he put a little thought into it, it was really sad; even SCARY that someone like her was in these games. She couldn't have been any older than 12. She slowly turned around and limped towards the door, putting her small hand up to allow her entry.

"Hey," Ray stopped her, he didn't really know why until he spoke. "I'm Ray."

The girl looked over her shoulder. "I'm Clementine."

and like magic, she was gone behind the door.

 

** XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx **

 

Ray tried not to think about that girl too much as the pod carried them towards the surface of the arena; he would apparently see her in a few minutes anyway.

"I accept your apology, dick-bag," Geoff said sarcastically, rubbing the apparent bump on his head. 

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry Geoff. I just got spooked," Ray apologized, looking up at the hole in the tunnel that was slowly creeping up on them.

"What the hell happened? I keep hearing how you've been acting really weird lately." Geoff moved closer, a look of concern on his face. He clasped his hand on Ray's shoulder "We are really going to need you on this one, Ray. We can't mess this up or it's game over."

Ray exhaled at Geoff's words; he was right. The only thing Ray should be thinking about is the well being of the group and what he needed to do to keep them alive. 

"Right, I won't let you down." Ray nodded, tightening his gauntlet to his arm.

"That's what I like to hear." Geoff smirked as they reached the end of the tunnel and the light overtook them.

Geoff and Ray squinted to try and see through the brightness of the sun. Slowly they began to adjust and see their den mates, then the stands, then the commentator's box.

"HELLO, AND WELCOME TO THE UNDER GAMES!" Burnie's voice flooded their ears. "I am your host, Burnie Burns! I am here with my assistant Griffon!" Griffon's face appeared over the giant screen behind them. She was the same smiling woman that he had seen the first time he entered the games, but she looked very tired and her eyes seemed to have a permanent puffiness from weeks of crying.

"Today we have an absolutely SPECTACULAR line up, and who else could start it off than ACHIEVEMENT HUNTER!" The screen flashed to a wide shot of the team standing in the grass and the stands erupted into cheers. "Home to none other than our favorite pair of forbidden lovers!"  
The screen split to Ray and Micheal and they both smiled and waved, not sure what else to do. 

"They'll be facing off against some pretty tough opponents, so give them another round of applause!" The crowed cheered them on once more before Burnie quieted them.

"Now, let's introduce the next headliner team in today's challenge. 3RD POSITION IN THE A RANK, TEAM SMASH!"

The mega screen flashed across the field to the next set of tubes raising from the ground. The glass lowered and Achievement Hunter quickly studied the first set of enemies. The first thing that caught Ray's eye was a tall man with lanky limbs and a mess of black curly hair. He leaned over and whispered to his Den mate, (a shorter, wider man with a blond stripe in the front of his brunet hair and neatly trimmed facial hair), who laughed, and then they high-fived. Another player ran up to them. It was another man who's boyish hair and soft face gave off a look of electric youth. He ran to the pair and seemingly yelled something with a big doofy smile on his face. The shorter of the pair laughed once more, while the taller man placed his head in his hand and looked almost pained. The camera zoomed in on them and they looked towards it.

"Oh, pardon me! Let's give a big warm welcome to our newest arrivals AND popular internet sensations! Arin, Danny, and Ross!" Burnie announced. Each player waved in that order and people in the stands went crazy again. The screen zoomed back out and Ray got a chance to glance at the rest of the team. There was one man with facial hair much like Arin's, but with a strap of beard that connected it to his closely cut hair and emphasized the harsh angles on his face. He smiled a big toothy smile and waved. Next to him stood a curvy African American woman, her smile seemed to shine in contrast to her green painted lips. Last in line was another man with facial hair, except somehow they had allowed him to wear a vintage cabdriver hat.  They all wore similar suits to AH's, but there was a champagne gold color that replaced their green.

"Last, but certainly not least, 2ND POSITION IN THE B RANK, TEAM 'AMAZING' "Bernie tried not to laugh at the name as the team emerged from their pods on the western side of them. The screen flashed to them and again Ray soaked in as much visual information as he could.

The two men out in front seemed to be around the same age and...well, actually the seemed to be fairly similar. Though the one on the left had blueish eyes and black hair while his counterpart had deep brown eyes and hair to match. Behind them he spotted Clementine, her limp was gone but you could clearly see her side was puffed out from the bandages. Next to her was a slim man with suave brown hair that waved out over his forehead, but was otherwise close cropped everywhere else. Lastly there was a boy with a thin, angular face with the front of his hair made into a messy wave. He was accompanied by a taller, slender woman who's front bangs were died a vibrant shade of purple. Their suits were a very light blue color. 

 All teams had taken to the field, Burnie explained the rules.

"This match is a special challenge. Somewhere in this arena there are three boxes, one on land and two in the water. Inside each of those boxes is a clue to safety." Burnie laughed. "The first team to find the 'safe house' is automatically put into the live rounds later in the week. The other two, will fight for the second and last spot in the shows. And-" He was cut off by Griffon whispering something in his ear and slipping a remote into his hand. His face curled into a smile as he held up the remote for the camera to see.

"Ladies and gentlemen, a shocking development! The polls have shown that viewers at home just don't feel the same action as we do here." Burnie turned out his lip in a fake pout, there were a couple of boos before he spoke again. "So in an attempt to make these games more enjoyable and a bit shorter.." The screen cut to the teams as Burnie pressed the button. Everyone shared a look of surprise as the collars on their suites tightened and a red dote appeared on them. "We have installed little 'surprises' in their suites. You, the audience will have to make a choice! Text 'Push' and the name of your least favorite player to our hotline. The votes will be tallied, and the person with the least votes gets their head blown off!" Burnie said in a sugar voice. The crowed ohd and ahd and cheered. 

"When you want me to push the button, text 'Push' to 512-920-BOOM! That's 5-1-2, 9-2-0, 2-6-6-6!" He advertised. 

"Dear god help us." Ryan stared, eyes still on the screen.

Ray visibly swallowed, watching Arin slip a finger in his collar and pull at it anxiously. The two similar looking men on the other team shared a worried look before returning to the screen.

"Alright. In summary; find the clues, get to the safe house, kill anyone in your way. GO!" Burnie yelled. The starting bell sounded off and everyone took off running into the cover of the forest.

"Guys, the box is buried somewhere!" Jack yelled over the crowd. "I can feel something like a box wrapped in pine roots!" _  
_

"The pines are on the eastern end, closest to the water!" Gavin pointed at the map as they headed into the brush. 

"Fuck yes, let's go win safety!" Geoff smiled brightly.

The team broke off to the right and headed east, towards the pine forest.

 

** XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx **

 

"I bet they know where it is!" Arin yelled over to Danny as they ran, already starting to get out of breath. The taller boy nodded and glanced up as the group of blips on the map started to break off and head east. 

"They're heading towards the water, we could intercept them in the pines and eliminate them there." Danny added.

"Let's split up, three on each side and we close 'em in." Ross ran next to them, not even breaking sweat. 

"That's the most well thought out plan I've heard since I joined this team," the woman laughed. 

"Glow, Adam, Jack. You do a run around and cut off their escape root. Me, Danny, and Ross will meet them directly." Arin looked back at them.

"Got it, anyone need a ride on the Nanners express?" Adam laughed and transformed to a large horse with ease while they ran. Glow grabbed onto his side and swung herself up. 

"You are the fucking boss, Adam!" Jack laughed and took Glow's hand, swinging onto the horse and standing with his hands on her shoulders.

"Oh god please tell me you have something like that in that thing please," Dan pleaded to Arin as he fumbled with a small ball in his hand.

"Go, Pangoro!" Arin yelled as he threw the ball out in front of him. It burst open and a giant bear like creature emerged from it, already running. Arin snatched the ball from the ground and tackled the beast, holding onto it and getting into a riding position as it bounded forward. Arin leaned back and grabbed Danny, then Ross, hoisting them onto his back. The creature huffed slightly more at the extra weight, but kept running.

"Congratulations Arin, you could have picked anything for us to ride into battle on and we're on a giant panda." Dan watched them speed off on the jumbo tron.

"Dan, if you have a problem, I have NO problem letting you run behind him," Arin said matter of factly, kicking his left heel into Pangoro's side and taking the sharp turn.

They speed towards AH, determined to eliminate.

 

**XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx**

 

"HE HAS. A FUCKING. POKEBALL!" The brown haired man screamed, gesturing widely towards the screen and making a continuous F noise with his mouth.

"Calm down Dan! It's not the end of the world." His friend tried to sooth him, but to no avail.

"Phil, it could quite possibly be the end of the world for US. HE'S PART OF THE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO KILL US." Dan argued loudly. 

"Yeah, but-" 

"Will you guys stop shouting, we need to think of a plan." Clementine interjected, getting in between the two boys. "Mat, back me up." 

"She's right you know. it's surely a death sentence if we just try and walk in there without some sort of plan." Mathew placed a hand on both of their shoulders to get their attention.

"Look, both of the teams are going towards the pines. They'll run into each other before they actually hit the beach and that will give us the perfect cover to sneak right past and get the two other boxes hidden in the water." Minx pointed out on the map with one hand, her other hand rested on the sheath of her sword.

"I think we should all split up!" Joe said.

"You're literally stupid." Dan gawked at him.

"No, really, hear me out!" Joe protested. "It'll be a lot easier to get passed them when we're all separate. Together we have to worry about everyone, but alone our powers are truly at their best, save for Dan and Phil. We can all meet up at the beach and they won't be none the wiser."

"Acturally, I agree with Joe." Clementine looked between them all, no objections. 

"As long as we can all handle ourselves." Minx said, a bit unsure.

"We'll see you guys over there." Phil smiled, grabbing Dan's arm and dragging him away. "FUCKING POKEBALL, PHIL" Dan was heard saying as they ran into the distance. 

"I'll see you guys there." Clem said for assurance, then turned and started running along the side of the left wall. Minx took off down the middle along with Matpat and Joe zoomed along the right wall.

Divided to conquer

 

** XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx **

 

"WATCH OUT!" Gavin screamed and tackled Ryan out of the way as a horse's hooves flew inches over their heads and skidded to a halt in front of the group.

The beast huffed at them. "Evening gentlemen!"

"Did that horse just speak?" Goeff rubbed his eyes.

They watched a man jump off of the horse's back.

"Top of the morning to ya laddies. Would one of ya be so kind as to point me in the direction of that lock box your going to." He spoke, flicking his wrist and pulling some sort of dome like structure over them. The members of AH slowly backed away from the man. Ryan backed against the edge of the dome, screaming in pain as thousands of vaults of electricity ran through him. His muscles tensed harshly and his eyes rolled back into his head. A few more seconds and the electricity ceased. Ryan fell to his knees and hit the ground. 

"Ryan!" Michael called out and went to get Ryan to his feet again. He pulled the older man's head into his lap. "Ryan, Ry wake up"

Jack lifted his finger up and down. The dark skinned women removed her hand from the force field and walked to her den mate's side.

"Woo, it was nice to finally let some of that out." Glozell smiled and let small bursts of green electricity thread her fingers. 

The horse shook his head and quickly turned back into the human he once was.

"Now, I'll sa-" The Irish man's statement was cut off by the fist that connected to his jaw and sent him spiraling to the ground. In a mere flash Gavin was on top of him, bashing him in the face with one fist after another.  
"I.HATE.YOU" Gavin squeaked quickly after each punch. "YOU.HURT.RYAN!"

Glozell went to grab him, but was stopped when Ray grabbed her fist and flipped her.

Adam growled and went for the downed Achievement Hunter as a fierce tiger, but his snarling face was met by his reflection with different colored eyes. The two bangles growled and roared at each other, faces pressed against one another before Michael pounced on him. Geoff and Jack scooped Ryan up in their arms, Jack threw a seed on the ground and they rocketed out of reach on a beanstalk.

Glozell bit into Ray's arm and electrified it. The fire elemental yelped and let go of the woman who side kicked Gavin in the skull, making him fall off Jack's lap. Jack stumbled to his feet and clutched his face, curse words pouring out of his mouth. 

"You fucking arse!" Jack yelled, pinning Gavin to the ground with a force field and punching him square across the face. Gavin cried out and Ray deflected the next punch, grabbing Jack's sides and lighting his hands at full heat. Jack's field broke and another appeared around him, sending Ray and Gavin flying a few feet. Glow pushed Jack behind her and poised for another attack, but the battle was interrupted by the sound of three bodies smashing into the earth. Every person turned to see Ryan, Jack, and Geoff lying on the ground. Geoff and Jack's eyes were open and moving around wildly, Ryan's remained closed. 

"Dragalge, return" Arin ordered as he pushed his way out of the brush, a strangle looking floating creature flew down and disappeared with a flash into the pokeball.

"Who started the party without us?" Dan laughed as he walked to Arin's side, looking at the three non moving bodies on the ground. "Huh, it's only been like 8 minutes." 

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Michael roared and pushed off the frozen form of Adam. He ran and lunged at the pair, but a pair of stretchy arms wrapped around him a couple times and stopped him in his path.

"Not today, fuzzy wuzzy." Ross laughed from behind them. Michael thrashed against the long appendages as they dragged him back against their owner.

"Let's all calm down." Arin raised his hands, looking between the two groups. "Now, it's obvious to us that you guys know where the box is. Tell us and we'll be on our way."

"Why would we do that?" Ray spat, stumbling to his feet. "Your friends here just tried to kill us!"

"Because it's three against six. I'm sure you'd hate to cause more pain to your friends," Arin reasoned. 

"What did you do to them?" Gavin demanded, looking to his friends on the ground.

"I paralyzed them, though I'm sorry for that nasty fall." Arin apologized, Ray didn't believe a word he said. His den mates acted far too hostile for peace to be a plan.

"I'll say this again, tell us where the box is," Arin insisted.

"Fuck off!" Micheal growled.

"Danny," Arin addressed. Danny walked over to Geoff and slammed his foot down in the back of the older man's elbow. He then took Geoff's hand and pulled it all the way to his knee, snapping the bone with a loud crack. Geoff screamed through his closed mouth, eyes watering. 

"Stop!" Gavin screamed, speeding towards Dan. He was inches from grabbing his throat when he smashed into a force field and was thrown back off his feet, blinking through his now blurred vision.

Danny took it upon himself to grab Geoff's other arm and set up for another break, watching Gavin. The sandy haired boy made no further movements.

"Where's. the box?" Arin persisted. 

"We don't know!" Ray shouted. Arin's face twitched in annoyance.

"Danny," Arin warned. Dan applied slight pleasure to Geoff's other arm and he made another painful sound.

"We're telling the truth, Jack thought he felt it." Ray took a step forward, regretting his choice of words. 

Arin looked towards the Irish man, confused. He shook his head, looking towards the brit on the ground. Arin looked to Gavin and followed his scared eyes to the correct Jack. 

"Interesting.," Arin stated, gesturing for Adam to come to him. The tiger quickly turned back into a man as he walked over.

Arin leaned down and yanked a quill from the back of Jack's neck. The bearded man's body jerked violently and he took in a huge gasp of air. Adam grabbed him by the back of his suit and hoisted him to his feet, morphing his hand into a tiger's paw and hovering his claws over Jack's throat.

"We'll be taking him with us." Arin nodded to Danny. The tall boy took his foot off Geoff and yanked the quill in his neck, pulling him to his feet and pushing him over to Ray. Geoff let out that scream he didn't get to before and stumbled a few feet before falling on top of Ray. The elemental held him up and watched Danny pick up Ryan's still unconscious body and throw it on top of Gavin. 

"Move a muscle and fat boy gets his vocal cords ripped out," Ross whispered to Michael as he let him go. Michael stood there, having transformed back to himself, and watched as the Smash group began to move past them. 

"We'll let him go once he finds the box for us, but not before then. Not alive at least," Arin said as he walked passed them.

Ray didn't move, nor did Gavin. The Lads watched as the team left, moving into the brush with Jack. 

As soon as Smash was gone, Micheal ran to Gavin and helped him pull the pin from Ryan's neck. Ryan's eyes shot open and he yelled incoherent words, thrashing in Gavin's arms.

"Calm down Ryan, it's us!" Gavin shouted over him. Ryan quit flailing and looked around. 

"Is everyone ok?" he asked.

"They took Jack," Geoff huffed as he limped over, Ray holding his waist to keep him up.

"What, go get him!" Ryan ordered as he attempted to get to his feet, only managing to with both Michael and Gavin's help.

"If we go after them, they'll kill him." Michael tried not to let his voice falter as he watched the dots on the screen move further away.

"They just. took him," Ray stared into the ground. "I couldn't do anything. They had us all beaten."

"Jack, ah, he knows how to handle himself," Geoff clutched his broken arm. "We need to get Ryan somewhere to-to get a breather."

"You're one to talk," Ryan replied. 

"We need to get out of the open and think about what we're going to do." Ray looked between them, shifting Geoff in his arms.

"Fuck, Jack, I'm sorry," Michael said to the air, pulling Ryan closer.

"There was nothing you could do, Michael. There was nothing any of us could do. It was just a bad situation." Gavin looked at the map for a minute and pointed towards a small plot of dark brown west of them, under the commentators box. "That's a cave system, I saw it on the 3D map this morning."

"Gavin, I want you to take me and Ryan there. Michael and Ray are going to get Jack back," Geoff breathed.

"Geoff, you need someone to-" Michael started.

"Goddammit Michael I am your superior.  **Go. Get. Him,** " Geoff demanded. Michael's jaw tightened and he said nothing more. **  
**

Ryan squeezed Michael closer for a second before he removed his arm from the boy's shoulders. Gavin extended his hand to Geoff and pulled him over, supporting both men.

"We'll meet you at the cave," Ray stated.

Geoff simply nodded, the three turned and started to half walk and half limp to the cave system. Gavin looked around every few seconds while they walked, in case anyone was there, as they vanished into the pine.

Then Michael and Ray were alone.

Then Micheal and Ray were scared.

 

** XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx **

 

"Will you put that thing away? You're making me paranoid." Phil eyes the mound of clay that Dan was playing with as they walked. 

"We're in the middle of a game that revolves around people killing each other. We have to be ready at all times," Dan reminded him, molding the clay.

"Well at least-what's that?"

Both boys' heads turned to the mass of bodies that was walking through the pines not to far away. Dan lowered himself slightly and began moving towards them, Phil hesitantly following behind. Once they neared the group they ducked behind thick brush and listened.

"Are you sure this is it?" Arin's voice could be heard.

"I'm sure that there is something here. Like I told you before, I don't know if it's the right box," another voice answered, sounding slightly pained.

"Like the clue box?" Phil whispered a little too loud and Dan covered his mouth and shushed him. He blew a silent sigh of relief when they kept talking. The two peaked over the bushes to get a better look at the scene. 

"Adam, start digging it up." Ross got behind the tree and wrapped his stretched arms around it a couple of times.

"Roger dodger." Adam leaned down and morphed his hands into wolf paws, tearing at the base of the tree.

"If you're right, you just might get to see your den again, Jack." Danny chuckled, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder.

"And if I'm not?" Jack dared to ask. Danny's hand tightened.

"Then we keep looking."

"He's their hostage, we have to help him!" Phil muttered to Dan, who's hands quickened over the clay.

"Why should we? Their both enemies," Dan questioned, clutching his clay creation and taking a deep breath.

"Wouldn't you want someone to help you?" Phil insisted in just barely a whisper.

"That's different, Phil." Dan glanced over the brush. They had completely uprooted the tree and laid it on it's side. A small metal box was clamped to one of the roots.

"No it's not, you just want to make yourself feel better!" Phil spoke just above a whisper.

"Who's there? Get where we can see you." Ross ordered, nearing the brush.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Dan groaned. He stood up and pointed his clay pistol at Ross and fired. It clipped his arm with a spurt of blood and he was marked for death. The smell of blood hits Phil's nose and his eyes dilated wildly, a shiver going through his body.

"Oh, that's good." Phil's nostrils flared and he jumped from the brush. He caught sight of Ross and lunged, too fast for Glow or Arin to stop him. Phil grabbed onto Ross and tore a hole in his neck, feasting on the crimson liquid that poured out from Ross's twitching jugular. The Australian gripped Phil for a few moments as he was quickly drained of his blood. Phil pushed the now lifeless body from his lips and breathed a sigh of pleasure as he let Ross's empty corpse crumple to the ground.

Glow screamed and lunged for Phil, but was tripped by a thick root that wrapped around her foot and slammed her into the tree next to her. Jack took the distraction to turn and bolt. Dan watched as Arin pulled his pokeball from his suit pocket. The boy pulled a quick draw and knocked it from Arin's hand. Phil noticed the Smash player defenseless and slapped him across the face, dazing him for long enough for Phil to steal the Pokeball.

"No you fucking don't!" Danny grabbed Jack by the neck and pulled him back into a choke hold. The bearded man thrashed and grabbed at Danny's arm. Dan saw the two struggle and took aim, sending another bullet flying into Danny's leg. The tall man cried out and momentarily loosened his grip on Jack, who swung around and shoved his fist against Danny's gut with all of his might. The bushy haired boy gasped for air and dropped to his knees. Jack reached his hand out and the root that the box was attached to swung right to him. He ripped the box off and turned his attention to the gunman. Dan and Jack locked eyes for a second before Dan turned his attention to defending his friend. Jack took it as a sign of mercy and fled the scene.

 Dan mashed the clay down and jumped the bushes, grabbing Phil by the collar of his suit and pulling him quickly towards the water. 

The Irish man to their left was about to block their path when the root holding up Glozell dropped her and they collided onto the ground, which tripped Adam as he tried to run after them and allowed a swift escape for the two men.

"Shit," Arin searched the grounds with his eyes. No pokeball, team mates down, Ross dead. "Shit," He repeated.

 Arin picked Danny up off the ground. "What's the status with that leg?"

"The bullet went clean through, I'll live," Danny winced, applying pressure to the leg.

"Well that was a shit storm," Jack muttered as he got to his feet and helped up Glow and Adam. 

"I can still catch him." Adam pinned his eyes on where the bearded man had fled.

"Nono. This might be better for us." Arin looked towards the screen, which showed Jack on one side and Dan with Phil on the other, running in opposite directions. "I want you and me to follow the fat man. The rest of you go after the Vamp and his friend. If we play our cards right we can get all the clues and not lose anyone else."

Arin glanced back at Ross's body, a dried out crumpled husk on the ground. There was no longer a person in there.

Arin motioned for them to move, and the team broke into two groups, each running after their new targets. The blonde striped boy remembered Ross once more, the man he had known from the 3rd grade, the man who had been with him through thick and thin. Tears brimmed Arin's eyes as they ran, he thought back to all their moments together-

And then their was a ping, like his brain twitched.

And then Arin forgot.

 

** XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx **

 

Gavin ran at top speed through the forest, searching for the two lads and the Gent. 

He had hidden Geoff and Ryan safely in the cavern they had found. Gavin would have stayed to look after the gents, but Geoff insisted that he go and find the others. He glanced up at the screen, but no shots of anyone were up there. The screen had went to sweeping images of the arena after the clue had been found.

Gavin looked back in front of him and squeaked. 50 feet ahead of him was a little girl who was frozen like a dear in headlights right in his path. Gavin slammed his heals down into the ground and forced time to speed up again, his feet digging into the earth and stopping him 3 feet from the girl. 

"What are you doing out here? Go find somewhere to hide, I'm not killing a little girl," Gavin snapped at her. She just stared wide eyed at the Brit, who growled in frustration.

"Hey! Little girl??"

"Where did you get that?" Her voice shook, staring at Cry's mask that was strapped to Gavin's side.

"It was a gift from a friend." Gavin placed his hand on it protectively,

"You're lying!" Fresh tears brimmed her eyes.

"No, I'm not!" Gavin shouted.

Clem pulled a knife from her suit sleeve and swung at Gavin, barely nicking his leg as he dashed away. Clem turned and stabbed wildly again, making a small cut in Gavin's suit and a shallow mark on his chest.

"Did you kill him? Is that some sort of s-sick prize?" she cried, jumping on him and smashing her fist into his stomach. Gavin was surprised at the huge amounts of force her small fists had behind them. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back.

"I didn't kill him you crazy mug!" he shouted. Suddenly all these memories of Cry came flooding back to him, like they were being sifted through. Gavin recalled every second from being pushed into safety with Cry's mask on to the time fake Gavin was killed by Jenna. Suddenly Clem stopped squirming, sitting on the brit's chest and crying.

"Oh god, no, he's dead," she sobbed. "Cry, I need you."

"You knew him?" Gavin's face softened.

Clem dropped the knife and kept crying. "He-he and I were supposed to leave together..."

"Leave? Leave how?" Gavin sat up. Clem got to her feet and wiped her tears.

Clem took a deep breath and all at once quit her crying, flipped it off like a switch. "If he protected you, he must trust you. That means I can trust you, right?"

Gavin nodded.

"Cry and I are part of an organization called "S.P.E.C." it's a small group of us within the games looking to escape," she explained, giving a pained look towards the mask again. "Cry was supposed to be scouting the arenas and the rest of the compound for possible weak points. I see now why we haven't heard from him in a long time..."

"I'm sorry," Gavin apologized, what else could he say?

"It's over now," Clem stated. 

"Why do you want to leave?"  
  
Clem laughed. "I've killed more people then any living person should ever have to deal with and I'm only 11. I just want to get home. I want to get back to my older sister and baby brother and make sure they're okay. I need to make sure they find out I'm still alive."

"Don't they watch the games? You're obviously still here," Gavin scoffed.

"No." Clem said simply. "Everyone in the games isn't alive anymore. Everyone you know and love, they think you're dead."

"What?! how-"

"People are coming." Clem looked behind her, there was a faint rustling and voices could be heard. "Here, take these."

Clem reached behind her head and quickly took out her pigtails, grabbing Gavin's hand and placing her butterfly berets in them. "If we can really trust you, come to the fourth floor tonight, show this to the mermaid with the golden eyes, and you'll find Spec."

Before Gavin could stop her, she was running away, ducking into the forest as his Den mates emerged. 

"Gavin!" Jack waved him over.

"Jack!" Gavin smiled, zipping over and hugging the man tightly.

"We have the box." Micheal showed him the metal box.

"Let's get back to the caves and see what it is." Ray pulled them back towards the cave.

Gavin pocketed Clem's berets. He'd tell them when everyone was together again.

 

** XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx **

 

"Got it!" Minx gasped for air as she resurfaced for the fourth time, swimming back to the shore with the slightly rusted box under one arm. 

"Yes! How did you even do that?" MatPat asked her, taking the box.

"I speak mermaid." She smiled, ringing her hair out.

"Wouldn't you drown down there?" Joe questioned, watching Mat try to crack the the padlock combination code.

"No you idiot, they use a form of sign language." Minx held her side and howled, making Joe's face redden from embarrassment.

"Gotcha!" Mat said triumphantly as he pulled the safe door open, looking inside at the small folded up piece of paper.

"Huh, thought it'd be more impressive then that," Joe commented as Mat unfolded the paper. On it was three words written in cursive.

_'Is under you,_ " Mat read, looking to his Den mates for some kind of input, but all he had was confusion. There was a splash next to them and their heads all snapped to the beach.   
A mermaid with soaked golden locks that reached her waist pulled herself on the beach, carrying a second small box under her arm and signing wildly with her other hand. Minx ran to her and took the box, signing back happily. The two spoke silently for a few seconds before the mermaid made what can only be described as a terrifying inhuman shriek of pain itself. Lightning edged it's way into her skull and she fell back into the water, floating lifelessly as her blood mixed with the salt water.

"We'll be taking that." Glozell pointed her still electrified fingers at Minx, Cepticeye and Sexbang on either side of her.

"Like hell you will, take one more step towards her and you'll be done for," Dan threatened, rounding the bushes with Phil.

Glow turned her fingers towards him. Minx dropped the box and launched at her, sword unsheathed. Adam jumped between them and clamped his alligator jaws down on the middle of her sword, snapping it. Minx whipped a smaller dagger from her suit sleeve and jammed it through the side of Adam's face, tearing the skin from his jaw down to his lips. Montoya shrieked in pain and blindly swung towards her, missing her as she jumped back and went after him again.

"Mat, chuck the box back!" Minx yelled back as she slashed at Adam.

Phil was about to go for the blood, but Dan held him back, eyes not moving from his stand off with the electrified woman.

"Wait for her to break focus, then go for her heart. She is the only one that can get the box back." Dan said through gritted teeth. Phil bared his fangs, waiting.

"Danny, the box! Get the other box!" Arin snapped, grabbing Adam and disarming Minx. The girl only laughed and pulled yet another weapon from it's hiding place.

Danny nodded and took off after the box in Matpat's hands. Mat closed the box and relocked it, dashing towards Danny as fast as he could. The two men crashed together and Mat's body surged with new energy. As the two fell Mat pushed all the power to his arm and flung the metal box. It sounded similar to a jet as it sailed clear across the lake and hit the wall of the arena before hitting the water and sinking.

"Where's the box?" Danny growled, it had all happened so fast that he missed it.

 "You couldn't swim fast enough to get it back," Mat grinned, grabbing a hand full of dirt and smashing it into Danny's face. The tall boy cursed as he was blinded. Mat rolled onto him and socked him in the face and Danny kneed him in the crotch as they wrestled on the ground.

"Jack, on Danny's position!" Arin's voice called to the Irish man. Jack ran towards Danny and sent a wall between them, launching Mat through the air and into the water.

Jack was a few feet from Danny when Joe jumped on his back, grabbing his chin and pulling him back onto the ground.

"Always double check who said what, idiot." Joe laughed in Arin's voice. Jack kicked his legs back and smashed one of his feet into Joe's face, making him let go. Joe's head snapped back and Jack set a force field in between them, rocketing him back and smashing him against a nearby rock.

Mat resurfaced in the midst of a panic, swimming towards the shores. A tail rose out of the water behind him and smashed back under, propelling the animal quickly towards it's prey. His fingers sunk into the shore as the mermaid grabbed hold of his ankle. He screamed for Minx as he desperately tried to claw back onto the beach.

"Hold on!" Minx spun to the side and kicked Arin square in the chest, kicking off of him and sprinting towards the beach. She grabbed Mat's hand right as it went under and pulled him back up, yelling "Kick her!"

Mat kicked wildly at the mermaid that gripped him, knocking her hand off him. Minx heaved Mat back onto the shore and spun around just in time for Arin to push one of the broken halves of her sword into her stomach. He pushed it in and twisted it as blood gushed out. Minx let out a garbled cry as she was pushed off her feet and on top of Mat.

Glow glanced towards the scene and Phil went in for the kill. The woman looked back and screamed, fingers still pointed at Dan as she shot before Phil ripped into her. 

Dan held up the rod he had thinned out from his clay and the lightning struck it. Dan flinched at the pain as the rod absorbed the lightning and bounced around in his body. Slowly he forced his arm to tilt the stick until it was parallel with the ground, with another shout of pain the lightning redirected out of his body and shot into Adam, entering through his eye socket and forcing his head to explode.

Smash and Awesome turned from their battle as pieces of Adam covered everyone in the vicinity.

Phil stood up from where he was hovered over Glozell on the ground. His eyes filled with ecstasy as blood poured down his chin and he smiled. Swallowing the other half of Glozell's heart that hanged from his mouth with a wet squelch.

"I hate the part where their heart stops beating, it makes me really sad," Phil admitted, sucking blood and small pieces of flesh off his fingers.

"That makes it five against three. Shall we keep going?" Dan asked, stepping out from behind the brush.

"Four." Arin laughed, kicking Minx's body off from on top of Mat, who was frozen.

"Minx, no." Phil's lip quivered slightly.

"Jack." Arin looked towards the man, who's hand was outstretched in a cupped position.

"Right." He nodded. He curled his hand into a fist and catapulted it over his head. A blue shimmering ball came flying from the other side of the pool and landed on top of Minx's body, severing it into two halves. The ball broke open revealing the lock box inside.

Arin walked over and picked it up, splashing his hand in the water and washing some of the blood off of it. 

Mat tried to snatched it from him, but Jack quickly pulled a wall over him that slammed him back into the sand. 

Danny snuck up behind Joe and snaked his arms under Joe's, threading his fingers together behind Joe's head and pulling them into a lock. 

"Walk." He commanded. Joe walked with him quietly over to where Arin and Mat were.

"Make a wrong move and they die." Arin commented as he quickly unlocked the box and read the same three words that had stumped the other team.

"Fucking puzzles." He mumbled to himself, grabbing the other box from where Minx had dropped it, unlocking it

" _The Safe house, is under you."_ Arin read the two clues together. "Danny, where is-"

"Arin, god dammit, help!" Danny yelled.

Arin looked over and saw that it was Joe now holding Danny in that position. Joe looked at Arin with wide eyes before Arin smashed his fist into his face. Joe fell back and instantly turned into a second Danny. The Danny that had been set free ran up and threw his elbow into Jack's ribs, knocking the air out of him and setting Mat free.

"OHMYGODTHATWORKEDRUN!" Danny yelled the continuous sentence as he turned into Joe, running towards the brush.

Mat sprung up and bolted, ripping Minx's pendant that had gotten un-tucked off of her neck as he passed.

Phil grabbed Dan's hand and sprinted off after his den mates.

Dan bit a piece of clay off his mound and spit it behind them, it bounced off the ground and busted open, covering their escape route in thick smoke.

The three Smash mates ran into the thick smoke after them and immediately hit the ground, convulsions and coughing fits ensued.

"How do they keep getting away!" Arin yelled between coughs.

 

As soon as he heard three bodies hit the ground, Dan yelled. "Where are we even going to go?!"

"The cave, it's talking about the cave!" Joe yelled back.

 

  **XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx**

 

"I don't know, Gav. It seems kinda far fetched," Ryan said as he eyed the mask and berets

"It sounds more like a little girl lying her ass off so she can live," Michael sighed. 

"What if Gavin's onto something?" Ray insisted, moving his torch hand closer to the objects. "We can for sure get out of here alive!"

"Let's focus on getting US out of here alive," Geoff reasoned, looking at the metal box in between them all. "Ray, can you get through that box?"

Ray closed his hand into a fist and punched through the metal with ease.

"Done."

"So much finesse." Jack said sarcastically as Ray cooled his hand and pulled out a small slip of paper.

" _In the cave."_   Ray read the words.

"Oh shit." Michael said. "The safe house is in the cave!"

"Do you think the other teams know that?" Gavin asked, at the same time a few sets of footsteps could be heard.

"Yes," Geoff whispered.

The Lads and Gents slowly got to their feet, listening intently.

 

"Were they still behind us?" Phil asked.

"No, but we don't have much time," Dan answered. The members of team Awesome cautiously rounded the corner only to be met with Ray, hands ablaze.

"Woah!" Mat put up his hands. Phil hid slightly behind Dan.

"You best be leaving." Ray warned. A cave bear sat just behind him, rumbling in a low tone.

"We don't want anymore trouble," Mat slowly put his hands down. Ray slowly lowered his hands as well, but kept the flames up for light. 

"We know where the safe house is, it's-"

"Right here." Geoff stepped into the flame light. "In the cave system."

"Yes," Mat agreed. "The other team will be here soon. We riddled their numbers down to three. Out of all of us, please don't let them be the ones that get to feel safe."

"You. Wan't us to work together?" Ray asked.

"Until Smash is dead, then you can go to the safe house and we'll be okay with second place." Dan took a step forward, extending his hand. "Please. We just want this to end."

Ray stared at his hand for a moment, then grabbed it firmly and shook it. "Deal, uh, your name?"

"Dan, Dan Howell." Dan smiled.

"Ray Narvaez." Ray smiled back.

"See, this is the part I don't get," Danny snickered from behind them. "Why do they smile if they know they're just gonna end up killing each other sooner or later?"

Both teams looked back towards the three Smash members. They were all smiling at them, but none of them were as smiley as Arin. Arin's expression seemed almost. Broken. They all took a step forward and everyone else a step back. 

 Ray extinguished the flames and pushed past Dan and Phil. "EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" 

  
Both teams hit the deck and Ray re-lit his flames, grabbing Arin by the face and pushing his fingers into the other man's skull. Arin cried out in pain and smashed Ray's ears, discombobulating him momentarily. Ray pushed him aside and ran for the mouth of the cave. Arin growled and ran after him, shouting over his shoulder "Don't let anymore escape!"

As the two Smash players turned back, eyes adjusted, to see the giant brown bear rumble past them with two more players on it's back. The rest of the two teams turned and ran deeper into the cave.

"Go after them, I got things here!" Danny yelled to Jack, running deeper into the cave as the other ran to the mouth.

 

Ray ran out of the cave and looked around, quickly turning left towards the rock wall that jutted out of the arena barrier. Arin came out seconds later, looking around and spotting the elemental. A he ran he tore a chunk of his finger out with his teeth, scrawling on his arm and reading as he wrote. "As I, only obstacles were left behind him!"

Micheal skidded to a halt as the ground in front of him split open to expose some of the cave system far below. He roared in frustration and looked around.

"There, hop the gap there!" Dan pointed; Michael ran for it.

 

Ray kicked off the ground and rocketed towards the top of the cliff, hoping Arin wouldn't lose interest. He glanced back and the other man was climbing the rock face to get to him. Michael's claws rounded out to a black bear's as he hopped onto the wall and clawed after him. 

Ray landed on the top of the cliff and looked down. The four players raced towards them. 

Dan worked quickly on his clay as he looked up towards Arin, who had disappeared over the top of the cliff. Fire shot once, twice, three times. Then there was silence. Michael threw one massive paw over the edge and the threw the other, pulling himself up.   


Arin had a hold of Ray's neck, his feet just barely dangling off the rock. Ray was clutching Arin's hand with blazing fingers, but he couldn't do the damage he did before. He couldn't do any damage anymore. Ray tried to say something to Michael, but all that came out was coughing and choking. Arin's arm shook with fresh new cuts and he read them.

"The bear's claws slipped from the rock, it fell with it's riders and hit the ground."

Suddenly Micheal's claws retracted and he lost his grip on the edge, slipping off the rock and falling with his riders like Arin had said.

Arin grinned as he heard a loud thump on the ground, loosening his grip and letting Ray fall against the rock. He quickly scrawled on his arm again before Ray could get up.

"The young man could barely even light a match, his fire extinguished." Ray's flames went out he couldn't light another one, and he became cold. "A cold chill ran through his body, he was weak and frail."

Ray felt a shaky breath leave him as Arin pulled his now weak body up and took a dagger from his gauntlet.

"Why are you...doing this?" Ray said quietly, unable to stop him.

 "You know Ray, it takes a lot to get me to use my powers," Arin explained as he slashed words into Ray's back, making him cry out in agony. "I mean A LOT. I have a lot of self control, and it takes a REAL-" Arin made a particularly deep slash, Ray screamed. "ASSHOLE to break that!"

Ray felt blood beginning to run down his back, becoming numb with pain.

"And you, you took the FUCKING cake!" Arin stabbed the dagger into Ray's tailbone, drawing another shriek from him.

"You tried to play innocent! TRIED TO STEAL MY SAFETY FROM ME AND MY-" Arin smacked Ray across the face. "FAMILY!"

Arin began to start laughing, taking another dagger and shoving it in his shoulder. Ray whined loudly. 

"And I bet you guys all had a big LAUGH about it. I bet Glow, Ross, and Adam would have just LOVED to laugh too, but NO, THEY'RE GONE!" Arin plunged yet another one of his daggers into Ray's thigh, his laughter loud and crackly. 

Ray tried to keep awake, the blood loss becoming too great. His eyes slowly slid closed.

"No, no sleeping just yet!" Arin was practically screaming he was laughing so hard. Tears streamed down his face as he read the words engraved onto Ray's back.

"The flames roared back to life and the boy was fully aware of him and his situation, the pain was so unbearable that he couldn't go on anymore, he slowly slid towards the edge and off to his death, not wanting to stop himself."

"No, no please," Ray gritted through the pain as his body began to move without him, scooting towards the edge. "I can't die now, I can't!"

"I agree, suicide isn't the answer, don't do it!" Arin mocked, watching him almost hungrily.

Ray tried to stop his body as his feet swung over the ledge, all he could do was manage one last scream as he pushed himself off and began the plummet. The elemental tried to light his fire as he spun through the air, but not even a flicker would start from his cold hands. His eyes watered as he plummeted towards the earth, unable to break free of the inevitable spell. He only mustered up enough strength to reach out to where Michael lay motionless, Dan and Phil panicking from his side as they caught sight of him one second too late. Ray fell through the crack in the ground and passed all the tunnels, all of his friends and the people he loved fighting for their lives.

"Michael, please, help m-!" Ray's words caught in his throat as a stalagmite severed his spine and ran clean through him. Ray struggled wildly and tried to pull himself off as he gargled on the blood filling his throat and lungs, his brain surged with thoughts of his life, of his den, of Michael...

 

 

 

And then Ray's struggling ceased, and his eyes stuck open as his head leaned back and the blood in his mouth came pouring onto his face.

 

 

 

 

His body hanged from the middle of the stalagmite with his glasses reflecting the cloudless blue sky above.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliff hanger!  
> Sorry, needed to "Let some things go." to move on with the story.
> 
> Thanks for reading!
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> (Please don't hate me, my Beta already does T^T)


	14. The One to Pick Up The Pieces

 Geoff was the first one to find him. 

He ducked into the lit cavern and projected himself still running away in front of Danny, clutching his arm tightly.

The tattooed man sighed in great relief when the Smash player ran after his decoy. He turned to run through the pocket and slipped on the blood, falling back and looking up on Ray suspended on the formation.

"Oh god, Ray," Geoff shook his head, looking over the array of daggers in his body and the scratches that made letters on his back. "No, not you."

"Geoff, there you are! The safe is right there-" Gavin's eyes caught sight of Geoff sitting in the pool of blood, his eyes slowly trailing up from him to Ray. He stood there, staring.

Geoff looked back at him and got to his feet, slowly walking to Gavin. 

"Gavin, where is the safe house?" Geoff asked quietly.

Gavin swallowed harshly as his eyes watered, slowly bringing his hand up to point to Ray. Geoff hesitantly looked at Ray again and leaned to one side, seeing the metal door behind the single stalagmite. 

Geoff turned back to Gavin, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Gavin, we need to get the others, okay? I really need you to go find Michael. I'll get Ryan and Jack. We HAVE TO meet back here, got it?"

Gavin nodded slowly, flashing away from Geoff's grasp silently.

Geoff's grip tightened on the air before he let his hand drop, running away from the light pocket as fast as he could.

 

 

 _ **XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx**_  

 

 

"Oh god, oh shit, of fucking hell Phil what do we do?!" Dan panicked, looking from Ray, to Arin on the cliff, to Michael now beginning to stir.

"Um, I, uh." Phil gulped, looking for an answer.

Michael's eyes slowly opened and he let out a  hiss from a combination of the sun beating down on him and the incredible pain he had in his head from the fall. He lifted himself weakly and looked towards Dan and Phil glancing over the ledge.

"Ow, fuck, my head. Did Ray get him?" he asked, groggy.

Dan opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by Gavin as he zipped past the two to Michael, pulling him up and glancing towards Arin. "We still need to kill him."

"But how?" Phil questioned.

"We need to get him down here, get his attention on us." Dan went to Gavin's side, hand working over the clay. 

Gavin glanced down at the mound. "Hey, can I borrow a piece of that?"

"Sure, for what?" Dan asked as he tore off a piece and handed it to Gavin. 

Gavin molded it into a small ball the size of a rock, throwing it with all of his might and beaming Arin in the head.

"HEY!" Gavin yelled.

Arin turned and looked down at him, eyes blazing.

"SOD OFF!"

Arin jumped from the cliff, speaking a few words and landing without a scratch.

"You and Phil would get along so well what with the brilliant plans and all," Dan said sarcastically. 

"Tell me what you know about his powers." Gavin steadied Michael, who swatted Gavin's hands away and insisted he was alright.

 "I've only ever heard of these powers, never seen one in real life. Whatever he reads aloud becomes reality," Phil explained.

"He did something to Ray and he just. Jumped." Dan swallowed nervously.

Gavin ignored the ping of pain in his heart and looked Arin over as he walked towards them. His fingers were bleeding and one of his arms was covered in sections of bloody scratches organized to make words. 

"We cut his hands off so it stops him from writing more," Gavin analyzed. He looked to Dan and pointed at his clay. "Can that thing make a knife that works?"

"As long as I'm holding it." Dan said, backing up slightly at the site of Arin almost upon them.

"Get one made and swing when I say swing, Ok?" Gavin whispered.

Dan nodded as he watched Arin stop a few feet from them. Gavin stepped in front of him slightly, blocking his hands from Arin's vision.

"You called?" Arin smiled.

"Is that your doing down there?" Gavin said in a monotone voice and jerked his chin toward the casm. Michael glanced towards the opening, he definitely made it.

"Why, yes it is! I do prefer the term 'Masterpiece' though." He chuckled.

Gavin nodded slowly. "Why?"

"Because it takes quite a lot to satisfy me. Just ask Danny boy, no amount of non lethal pain really scratches that ITCH I have, but THAT. That desperation in his eyes, each tear so filled with pain as he ended his own life. The beautiful splatter ring he made when he hit the spike, it's truly the work of legends." Arin began to laugh again, looking between them all.

"Even now I'm experiencing my work. I see all the pain and sadness in your face, son. I see every little bit of emotion threatening to be unleashed as I speak. And you,"

Arin moved his gaze to Michael, who was staring at him I'm disbelief.

"I can't even get a reading on your emotions right now. How does it feel to watch your fuck buddy die." Arin grinned.

"I-" Michael started.

"Wait, that's why I couldn't read you! You didn't see him take the coward's way out to ease the pain. By all means, take a look in the," Arin was cut off by Gavin slamming into him with all of his strength.

Gavin grabbed Arin's head and slowed down time almost to a halt, slamming it into the ground over and over again. Each time he let more of his emotions take over. First it was screaming, then crying, then almost heaving. He smashed Arin's damaged face into the hole he had made, grabbing his wrists and pulling them to his left before he sped up time again.

"SWING, DAMMIT!" he sobbed. 

Dan lunged towards his hands and slammed his knife through Arin's wrists, repeating the action in different places until they were only attached to him by two veins and a tendon. 

Arin's face was twisted with pain as he screamed, kicking at Gavin. 

The Brit just continued to shove the man's face into the dirt, tears streaming down his face.

Michael looked upon the scene with glassed eyes, his hands trembling ever so slightly. 

Gavin let out a yell in frustration and grabbed the back of Arin's suit, dragging him towards the hole Ray had fallen through. Arin just laughed and lay limp.

"See, now you're getting it! These games are about KILLING for SURVIVAL. If you would've just gone out and tried to kill everyone like you were SUPPOSED TO then your friend would still be alive instead of a human oning!" Arin cackled as Gavin yanked him to the ledge.

Gavin dropped him to his knees with his back to the ledge.

"Why are you not trying to struggle?" Gavin said in a low tone, inching closer to him.

"Can't fight without any hands, my game is over," Arin smirked up at him. "Tell Danny I know all about him and that bitch. I knew where he went at night with those pussys looking to break the system and escape. Tell him I'll make him pay the price with my last breath."

Gavin seized his suit again and pulled him to his feet, there faces inches apart.

"You'll never lay a hand on her!" He snarled.

'So you're in with them too?" Arin scrunched his nose with a face of disgust. "Should have told me earlier, I would have written your name down too." 

Arin quickly lifted his foot and slid it in the pre ripped hole in the leg of his suit, ripping it down and revealing the bloody writing on his leg. "I knew I wasn't getting out of this, but I'm sure as shit not going alone."

All at once Arin brought up his leg and slammed it into Gavin's chest, sending the Brit back and himself over the ledge. He kept the leg up and read quickly as he spiraled towards the ground.

"Dan Avidan and Clementine Everett to 512-920-2666. BOOM!" He laughed "FUCKING BOOM!-"

Crunch,

silence.

 

"Let's get down there, we need to kill the last one," Gavin ordered.

"Yeah, right," Michael spoke up, face drained.

"Right behind you," Dan nodded.

"Can I eat him?" Phil laughed.

 

_**XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx**_

 

Ryan threw his feet out in front of him and skidded as he turned his body and threw a stone he had grabbed at Danny's head, but the rock sailed through empty air and smashed into the wall behind them.

Danny's headless body stood and twitched for a moment more before crashing down next to his head, eyes jerking around before becoming glassy and still.

"The votes have been tallied, and the-!....what? I don't remember pressing the button..." Burnie's voice shouted and then muttered through the caves.

 "Ryan, I!- man, what is with you and cutting off heads!" Jack stepped back as his boot made contact with Danny's blood in a wet splash.

"That wasn't me! Burnie hit the button!" Ryan shot back, carefully stepping over the body to Jack.

"Shit, really? I guess I just gotta be glad it wasn't one of us." Jack stared openly down at Danny for a few more moments before tearing his eyes away to Ryan. "Where are the others?"

"Me and Geoff got separated in the chase, I thought Gavin was with you?" Ryan said.

"Gavin ran off to find you and Geoff!" Jack replied, looking around.

Ryan cupped his hands and hummed a bird call; an answer twittered back from somewhere below them. The pair moved towards the sound.

"Be careful, one of Smash is still alive." Jack warned, walking behind Ryan and watching their flank.

Well, that confirmed Ryan suspicions of what the crunching sound was.

 

_**XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx**_

 

Gavin walked through the cave system with his fists clenched so hard his knuckles were white. 

"Are we going to meet up with the others?" Michael asked, body still slightly stiff from the fall.

"We find the Smash," Gavin said plainly. It made Michael's body tense even more. He had never seen Gavin this way. Sure he would have his bad days, but this was a whole new level of anger. It was mixed with something Michael didn't know how to read on him. 

"But what about R-" Michael started.

"On second thought, you go with Dan and Phil to find the others. I'll find the remaining Smash." Gavin signaled to his left with his middle and pointer fingers, which was a spiral tunnel that led down to the bottom floor where...where safety was.

"Gavin, what the fuck is up with you?" Michael challenged, annoyance creeping into his speach. This, for some reason, made Gavin more angry.

"Just go, before I make you!" Gavin snarled and time slowed to a halt.  

The Brit gasped, seeing the all too familiar look of seconds taking minutes. He let out a shaky breath and smacked himself in the head, he was letting his emotions get the better of him. 

He had to control himself, for Michael, for Michael.

Oh god, Michael. He looked up at his frozen friend. His face was contorted in a look of shock, his eyes wide and his hair all falling to the front. Gavin looked down to see his left leg back, bracing all his weight. He was stepping back, away from the sandy haired boy. 

Gavin had scared him.

He bit his lip and looked to Dan and Phil, who were shooting each other worried, saddened looks. 

Gavin shook slightly. Was he really just going to dump Michael off on these people because he didn't have the heart to tell him Ray was dead? He seemed like such a horrible person now....

The Brit stepped towards Dan. He'd kill the final person, he'd get Michael in the damned safe room and he'd help him through this. He wasn't going to make Michael wait by Ray's body while he went on the hunt.

"Go to the safe house, I will have killed him by the time you hear this. Thank you for your help." He whispered against Dan's ear, pulling back to barely see the waves hanging just beyond his skin, waiting to be sent straight to the boy. A nifty trick he had learned during training.

He walked passed them towards the mouth of the cave.

 

 

  _ **XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx**_  

 

 

Tears streamed down Gavin's cheeks as he stumbled back down into the caves. His head was pounding and his nose began to bleed. The whole world was pushing against him, demanding to be set free and begin again. He had never held time for this long and it was literally beginning to rip him apart.

He limped right passed Michael and the others. He couldn't face them right now, probably couldn't ever do it again. He continued down the spiral tunnel untill he hit the last floor, the one that opened up to the chasm. 

Gavin saw Geoff, he was clasping Jack's shoulders with one arm as the man leaned into him, mid sob. Behind them, Ryan stood next to Ray. His warm hands were clasped around one of his cold one, his back to Gavin. Next to Ray was a mass of gore spilling from a ripped golden suit who's blood mixed with the old blood, creating nauseating patterns of brown and red splashes on the walls.

The Brit stifled a scream as another insane jolt of pain ripped through his brain and blood vessels burst in his eyes, dotting his vision with exploding red droplets. He dropped to his knees and gripped his head for dear life, trying to keep it from splitting open.

 He looked back up at Ray, the shine of his glasses kept Gavin from seeing his eyes, but nothing stopped him from seeing how the fire elemental's mouth gaped open and dryed blood streaked up his face and into his nose. 

Gavin stared at him, praying that somehow he would pull himself off the spike and pull his intestines back into his body. He'd reattach the disks in his back and crack his neck back into place. He'd pick Gavin up and smile, he'd run to Michael and hug him tightly, he'd tell them it was all just a bad dream...

But no, he wouldn't do any of that. His neck would stay broken, spine severed, organs stabbed onto the spike above the body. His hand would never grip Ryan's, his face would never smile at Gavin, his fire would never keep Michael warm at night. He would stay on that fucking spike untill someone had to lift him off and burry him or wherever they take the bodies that litter this place. 

"Please, just tell me how to do this." Gavin yelled up to Ray, his words bounced around the chasm walls and no one heard them, no one moved to help him or comfort him.

"I've looked everywhere; the woods, the water, the starting areas, the caves, up every damned tree and in every fucking bush. He's not here. Where. I mean, where..." Gavin's words trailed off and he fell onto his side and curled into a ball, whimpering loudly as his brain began to press against his skull. He was going to die if he kept this up much longer, maybe he'd just lie here and die. 

"Tell me what to do..." Gavin pleaded softly, quaking with the pain of holding the single moment of time. 

He almost gave into the pain when he saw a glint, something moved. Gavin looked up quickly. Nothing should be moving if time is stopped; well, nothing besides him.

Another glint, Gavin looked up and saw that Ray's glasses had began to slip up to his eyebrows. The Brit glanced around, the three gents were still motionless, not even a blink of time had passed them. He watched as the glasses moved up enough to expose Ray's once brown, now deep gray, doll like eyes. They were stuck open in a blank stare to the heavens, his final journey.

The glasses continued up his forehead and somehow managed to fall in real time around the frozen world. They clattered to the ground with one temple folded into the glasses and one extended out, pointing to Ray. 

Gavin followed the temple's point to the safe door, which was ever so slightly ajar. 

Someone had opened it.

Fetching his last bit of strength, Gavin pushed himself over to Ray, pulling himself up to the body and pulling a dagger from it's shoulder. He tried his best to ignore the drops of impossibly cold blood that dropped onto his cheeks as he scooted back down the stalagmite and crawled over to the metal door. He pulled it open with a huff and slid inside where he caught a glimpse of two bodies in the darkness.

 In the corner, folded into himself, was the final Smash player. He had his legs folded Indian style and his head was down, resting between his thumb and his index finger. He had taken his hat off, which allowed Gavin to see that the top of his hair was died a sort of dark electric green. 

Next to him laid a small body that was being held above the ground and slightly away from the back wall which were both splattered with blood. Gavin creeped a little closer and saw the thing the body was lying on seemed to be made a pure blue, shimmering light, cast by Jack himself. He looked over the small corpse and saw where the light expressed the gap between her slender neck and her small shoulders. Jack's hat lay over her face

Gavin choked back another sudden sob. 

_Clementine._

Another insane wave of pain and anger passed through him. He felt grief and loss and frustration that overcame him so quickly that all he could manage to do was scream and plummet the blade so deep into Jack's chest that half the hilt had disappeared into the man as well.

Time finally returned and Gavin slumped onto the ground and lay motionless.

If he had bothered to investigate any further he would have noticed how hardly Jack's hand was clutching Clem's slack one, and he probably would have noticed the way Jack's sleeve had been rolled up and littered with cuts. 

But he didn't. Jack screamed in agony as he clutched the remainder of the dagger in his heart. Not loosening his grip on Clem's hand as his barrier broke and dropped her body on the floor. Her head rolled a few inches and landed on her left cheek, in her scared eyes was the reflection of Jack slowly slumping over and falling onto her body, the knife going clean through with a _squelch_ and showing through the back of his suit.

 

_**XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx** _

 

 Phil blinked and Gavin was gone. He didn't know where; he was here just moments ago.

He looked to Dan and his neck cracked making him bite the inside of his cheek, why was he so stiff and sore all of a sudden?

"Dan, what the hell are you whispering?" Phil asked, shaking the pins and needles out of his legs. He looked over to Dan and realized he was just staring straight ahead, lips unmoving. He couldn't have been mumbling the faint words Phil had heard.

"I know where he is, we need to head down to the safe." Dan looked at Phil, then swallowed and looked to Michael. 

Michael balled up his fists and yelled. "That fuck just left me here!" 

He grabbed Dan and pushed him forward. "Take us to the damn safe."

Dan rubbed his sore arms and walked slowly down the tunnel, Gavin's words still just barely echoing around the pocket

 

_**XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx** _

 

Jack swung to his left, wiping his eyes to make sure he was actually seeing this. In a split second the pool of blood around Ray had spread, a huge splash of it had appeared a few feet away from him near the entrance followed by drag marks all the way to the safe door, which had been flung open. He knew immediately that Gavin was the only one that could have done that.

"Gavin!" He bellowed and broke away from Geoff's grasp and ran to the door way. Geoff and Ryan broke from their positions and quickly spotted the blood, falling in close behind Jack.

Jack grabbed both sides of the door frame to keep himself from crashing into the small room. He scanned over the two bodies slumped together on the far wall before seeing Gavin sprawled out on the floor, clutching his bloody head. Jack quickly knelt beside him, scooping him up into a bridal carry.

"Gavin, Gavin please speak to me," Jack pleaded, pulling Gavin closer to him. He could smell the sharp sent of iron from the blood soaking his hair and still slightly flowing from his nose and the corners of his mouth. Ryan and Geoff flocked to him, Ryan supporting Gavin's head and Geoff checking his body for any wounds. Gavin slowly slid open his eyes and looked at his den mates, the smallest of smiles creeping onto his face.

"I did it, guys, I won. We're safe now," he mumbled, laughing quietly.

All of them looked to the door when they heard footsteps and a thud.

 

_**XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx** _

 

Michael fell to his knees, trying his hardest not to wretch as he looked at Ray.

Dan tried to walk to him, to go and comfort him, but Phil gripped his shoulder. "Don't, he'll just get mad."  
Dan wanted to argue, but when it came to matters of the emotions, Phil was never wrong. They stood behind him and watched solemnly.

The auburn haired boy clutched his sides and struggled to breathe, his sobs so violent he had to gasp for air. This wasn't happening; Ray couldn't be the person he was looking at now.  
Through his blurry vision he could see his den mates standing at the other side of the opening, faces sad and guilty. None of them rushed to his side, not one person even offered an apology.

"W-why didn't you tell me, Gavin..." Michael choked through sobs. "Why didn't you just FUCKING TELL ME?!"

He pounded his hands into the stone floor, splashing the pond of blood and sending spurts of it onto his arms and cheeks. He kept smashing his fists into the ground, coating himself in an artificial blood rain that mixed with the streams of tears on his cheeks. He reeled his fist back for another swing but a weak hand caught hold of his wrist. He looked back to see Gavin, trying his best to remain standing, looking down at him.

"Micool. I'm sorry," he said honestly, his grip so shaky he was literally vibrating Michael's whole arm. "I was so angry, so afraid of what would happen with us, with _you,_ that I had to hide the truth until I could find a way to ease the pain. I thought if I was able to tell you I killed the last Smash player, If I could tell you that I eliminated those pricks and saved the rest of us from dying that I would feel better. That I would make YOU feel better, but now I realize I can only slow down time, I can't turn it back. The truth is-"

Fresh tears sprung into Gavin's eyes,

"The truth is that I wasn't ready to lose anyone, and I'm still not." He knew he couldn't pull Michael to his feet, so the Brit sunk to his knees too, letting go of Michael's wrist and lacing their fingers together.

"I'm sorry we couldn't save Ray, but don't make me lose you too." Gavin grabbed Michael and hugged him, resting his forehead on Michael's shoulder. "I can still save you, Michael, you just need to stay with me. Don't leave me. I'm sorry I'm so scary.." Gavin's words trailed off into incomprehensible noises and he cried into Michael's shoulder. Michael was instantly brought to the moment Gavin had snapped at him, how he had stepped back reflexively. He must have been in that same position when Gavin froze time. Michael slowly brought his other arm to wrap around the sandy haired boy and tangle in his locks, which were now completely soaked with blood and dirt.

"Is this your blood?" Michael choked quietly.

"I searched the whole arena before I found the player in the safe. It turns out if you stop time for too long the world literally tries to kill you." Gavin laughed or coughed, it was hard to tell with it being muffled.

Michael's grip fell to Gavin's shoulder and tightened. Gavin winced slightly as Michael's nails dug through his suit and into his skin, but said nothing. The others watched on in silence, some knew better then to interfere and the others couldn't think of anything to say. Gavin stayed under Michael's tight grip for a long time before he lifted his head.

"We need to get in that safe, please." Gavin looked at him.

Michael nodded slowly, getting to his feet and pulling Gavin up as he wiped away his last stay tear. Dan tapped his shoulder and Michael spun to see the other British man offering him Ray's glasses.

"I uh, cleaned them for you." Dan grabbed Michael's hand and placed the glasses in them, wrapping his fingers around them with a small smile. "I hope we get to fight together again some day, right Phil?"

Dan's smile turned to a glare when he saw Phil licking the last bit of fresh blood from his fangs, smiling nervously. "No one told me I COULDN'T eat Arin." 

 

"That's because it was IMPLIED, PHIL!" Dan smacked Phil upside the head. 

 

Michael took the glasses and tucked them into his boot, hesitantly turning to Ray's body. He glanced down at his bloody suit and grimaced. What if Ray had seen him like this? What would he have said? 

 

The shape shifter walked to the elemental and looked down into his eyes, now gray and clouded. Michael touched his cheeks and shivered at the coldness; Ray's body had always been so warm and inviting that it was just so hard to grasp the fact that he was gone. He slid his hands down and closed Ray's eyes, placing a soft kiss on his icy lips. He reached over and slowly undid Ray's gauntlet straps and took it off his arm. Michael looked over the slightly burnt leather before strapping it to his own arm and slowly, hesitantly, pulling each dagger from his body. With each pull there was a spurt of blood and Michael became more and more aware of his situation, his fucked up situation. His hands began to tremble again as he pulled the last dagger from Ray's thigh and flipped it around in his hands. The once bright orange centerpiece was now dark and weak with no elemental power to drive it forward. Michael quickly put it into the gauntlet's pocket and wiped another tear that was forming before someone else had the chance to see. 

 

"Alright, I'm ready." He looked at Gavin, who nodded and began to make his way to the safe. 

 

"Hey." Michael hollered to Dan and Phil, who snapped their attention to him. "Thank you." 

 

Michael tried to smile, but it didn't come. "I know I wasn't much help, and then I acted like a complete cunt to you two." 

 

"Don't worry about it, bro." Phil smiled, trying not to show his fangs. "Don't hesitate to come and find our den if you need anything. _Anything_ ," he insisted.

 

"We snuck in our gaming systems to play when everyone else leaves," Dan smirked. 

 

Michael nodded and turned, following Gavin's slow footsteps to the vault. As they neared, Jack and Ryan pulled two bodies from the vault; the Irish man and the little girl Gavin had told them about. Ryan leaned over the man's body and pulled the final missing dagger from his chest, wiping the blood off on his suit and offering the weapon the Michael. The boy took it and stepped into the darkness of the vault with Gavin, leaning against the back wall and trying not to think about the blood that was seeping through the back of his suit. Jack followed them along with Geoff and then Ryan, who nodded back to the two other players and closed the door. 

 

  
The ground shook as the vault rocketed through the stone walls above and into the open air, throwing it's occupants around like rag dolls. It ascended to the middle of the field and opened up to make the platform Achieveme nt Hunter was now standing on. The group got back up on their feet and huddled closer together, not wanting to risk being to close to the edge. Drones flew circles around them and the jumbo tron behind the team lit up with sweeping shots of them.   


 

"Ladies and gentlemen, team Achievement Hunter is SAFE!" Burnie cheered, the crowd following. "But wait, wherefore art thou Romeo?!" 

 

One of the cameras zoomed into the gauntlet on Michael's arm, sweeping up to the auburn haired boy's sullen but somehow stone cold face with another shot over his shoulder and down into the chasm. Michael bowed his head. He didn't need to look at the screen to know that they were looking at Ray. He didn't want to look. Ray wouldn't want him to stand around gawking at his insides.

 

He would want Michael to start thinking about how to get him and his team out of these games without losing anyone else. Even if that meant he had to go chasing after some group of people who may or may not  even exist. 

 

 

And he'd do it tonight, by himself.

 

 

 


	15. This is Gospel

Michael has been lying perfectly still on his side, looking at the light flood in from the streets, for three hours. 

Gavin had been the last one of Achievement Hunter to fall asleep. Michael cooed and calmed him for hours, telling him not to fret or cry over Ray (something Michael felt Gavin should have been doing to him), before the Brit finally drifted off to sleep against the auburn haird boy's back an hour and 20 minutes ago. He's been waiting for Gavin to move ever since.

Like Gavin had read his thoughts, the younger man yawned and rolled over onto his back. Michael was up and changing before Gavin had time to fully settle into his new position.

Now dressed in his least favorite clothes, Michael crossed the room over to the shared dresser and opened up the bottom drawer on the right, taking Gavin's creeper hoodie and unwrapping it to see the mask and barrets the Brit had hid in there, a swift movement far too fast for anyone to see. For anyone but Michael to see. 

"Whatcha looking for?" Gavin asked from where he was standing behind Michael, stretching his arms over his head and adjusting his clothes. Michael glanced back to see the boy's pajamas discarded on the ground.

"You can't come." Michael said blankly, shoving the barrets into his pocket. 

"You won't get far without me. You don't know where you're going." Gavin pointed out, lacing up his shoes.

"I'm going to find that mermaid." Michael shot back quietly, getting to his feet. 

"Which mermaid?" Gavin sneered, emerald green eyes flashing in the darkness.

_Shit, which mermaid?_

Gavin had Michael, and he knew it. 

"Fine, but you can't follow me." Michael growled, throwing him the mask. "There, so you know I won't leave you behind."

Gavin snatched the mask and looked between it and Michael, his confadence melting away into slight confusion.

He was an idiot, it was almost enough to make Michael smile a little. Almost.

"If the Gents wake up and we're both missing they'll come looking for us." Michael explained. "I need you to cover for me until I get down to the arena. I'll call you when I'm there and then you leave. Got it?"  

"Oh, ok." Gavin tied the mask to his belt and slid back under the covers. "I'll wait here then. You better not be lieing to me, Jones."

"There have been enough lies in these games for my life time." Michael sighed, leaning down and kissing Gavin's forehead before slinking over to the door and slipping out.

Michael didn't grab his jacket as he walked out and trudged through the still chilly and rainy New York streets.

He walked a block to his right and down the stairs into the underground. He grabbed his ticket and went to wait for the north train. 

There were only a few people there; two homeless people with their signs and guitars, a woman and her daughter, a man checking out the woman, another man watching the first one carefully, and a runaway teen with huge headphones that blasted K-pop. 

He waited for the train tapping his foot to the teen girl's music. 

After a few minutes the train came firing at full speed towards the terminal, the horn blaring and warning the passengers of it's arival.

Everyone at the stop stepped up to the line, The mother gasping and scolding her child as she pulled them back behind the line. 

Michael waited for his time as he stepped up to the line as well. Counting down

Four

Three

Two

A scream.

Michael was on the tracks.

The mother kept whaling as he fell back and the train ran him over.

The woman would go screeching onto the cart and tell them to move the train. The passengers would console her and the rest of the people at the stop while the conductor called in another suicide. He'd keep moving on schedule and the clean up crew would close off the terminal and be along to clean up the body in 5 minutes to give it over to the MPD. 

They'd only find a pile of dirty, rated up clothes through. 

From Michael's left front pocket, a small aubern haired rat wriggled it's way out with two barrets clasped in it's mouth. It reached up with it's paws and grasped one of the many loose cables, pulling itself up and tangling itself in them for a safe ride. 

He'd get off in two stops and scurry down a small hole he had pre-dug hours earlier when he went off to get the call in meal order for his den. From the small tunnel there would be a clump of rocks he'd push through to get into the pit. He'd move the rest of the way down through there before finally getting to the metal tunnel and into the base.

But that was too far ahead to be thinking about right now.

Right now he was just a rat. 

A rat like the other hundreds in the subway of Manhattan.

 

**_XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx_**  

 

Ryan kept his eyes closed until he was sure Michael had gone.  

He needed to make sure his next move was silent or Gavin would know he's gone. 

Very slowly and with a few well placed coughs, he was able to grab the two extra pillows he kept under the bed and pull them under the covers, placing them in a strategic pattern to look like a sleeping lump. One more glance at Gavin lying in the bed, pretending to sleep, and Ryan used the sound of Jack shifting in the bed to hide the sound of his finger tapping she mattress, a portal blinking behind Ryan and swallowing him. He used his other hand to hold the pillows up until the portal closed and caught the tip of his ring finger. 

 Ryan recoiled his hand with a slight  _tch_ sound which echoed in the void. The very tip of his had been cut clean off and cauterized by the portal itself. 

"Very interesting." He whispered, his voice pinging off invisible walls and coming back to him from all angles.

 A portal opened from behind him and he fell through, hurtling back first towards the pit's ground level. His mind couldn't help but travel back to Ray. Was Ryan falling at the same speed he was? Ryan reached all his limbs out and just barely skimmed the walls of the cave, slick and slippery, Ray wouldn't have gotten a good enough grip to stop himself.

There was a ping of pain in Ryan's chest and the portal meant to catch him at the bottom flickered. 

If only he had been there to catch him.

Ryan hit the left wall and pushed off of it, flipping over in time to curl up and swing through the portal with ease. He took off in a run as soon as he hit the ground, slowing down just in front of the door at the end of the metal hall.

He punched in the key and went through. Gavin was probably already on his way here and they will make their way to the 4th floor soon.

He had to go stop them from getting killed. Or worse, getting found out.

 

_**XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx** _

Gavin's phone vibrated as soon as Ryan had left.

 The Brit poked his head out from under the covers, he had fallen asleep for a few minutes.

He grabbed the glowing phone and hit the talk button before putting it to his ear.

"Mmhello?" he said quietly as he rubbed his face. 

"Gavin? It's Michael, did you fall asleep again?" 

Gavin could feel Michael's glare from across the line. 

"For a few minutes. Are you ready?" Gavin pulled the covers back and got to his feet, looking over towards the Gents with a yawn.

One, two, three lumps, and none of them moved.

Perfect.

"Yeah, do you know how to get here without Ryan?" Michael questioned.

"Through the front door, you doughnut." Gavin yawned again and slowed down time to get from the bedroom to the living room and grab his jacket. It didn't make a single sound.

"..."

"...There's  a fucking FRONT DOOR?!" Michael growled, Gavin could hear him throw something.

"Of course there is, how do you think all those people get in to come watch us?" Gavin snickered and exited the apartment, heading left down the street. 

"I don't even know. Anyway, this place is guarded up the asshole. Do you really think you can just waltz in?"

"I can charm them with my British swagger. "

Michael snorted. 

"'Ello chaps, my name's Gav, mind letting me through so I can go find Micool and we can join this magical rebel group so we can escape the Under Games? Thanks bois!"

" _Umber games,_ and I can flash through them before they even see the green on my jacket."

"Yeah whatever, just get here."

"I'm going to take a few more minutes."

"I won't wait for you too much longer."

_click_

Gavin shoved his hands in his pockets and sped up a fraction. He turned left, then right, then left again. He stopped to tie his shoe and the man that had been following him didn't notice. He kept walking and crashed into Gavin, both of them falling to the ground.

"Bugger me!" Gavin rubbed the back of his head, which had hit the pavement 

"Oh no, oh no no no." The other man panicked, scrambling to his feet. Gavin couldn't see his face under his hood.

 "Hey, what are you on about? Are you gonna help me up or what?-"

"Don't touch me!" The man took a step back, clutching his hoodie.

Gavin's eyes narrowed. Somehow, though he had no idea why, Gavin knew that this man knew he had powers. 

The Brit got to his feet and held up both hands in surrender.

"Listen mate, I'm not here to hurt you."

Gavin took a step forward and suddenly the strange man was ten steps back. 

The man froze, Gavin froze. 

Then the man was in Gavin's face.

"What did you do to me?!" he demanded with an undertone of fear.

"I didn't do anything to you, you bloody ran into me!" Gavin shouted back. 

The man grabbed Gavin by the shirt collar and was prepared to swing when Gavin ripped the hoodie off of him.

The man's brown eyes flashed in surprise and his long brunette hair fell forward into his face. His skin was slightly tinted white and he had the slightest hints of stubble on his face.

Gavin squinted. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

 "No." The man said quickly. In one split second he unhanded Gavin, pulled his hood back up, and ran back the way he had came.

Gavin stood there, thoroughly confused. 

He closed his eyes and ingrained the man's face in his memory. He'll tell Michael about him later.

With that, Vav opened his eyes, spun on his heels, and continued his walk.

 

  _ **XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx**_

 

"Stupid, stupid, fucking stupid!"

Michael smacked his forehead, sinking back into the cushions of the couch in the Achievement Hunter den.  

He had lost one of the barrets somewhere in the between the pit and the den. How didn't he notice? Was he really that stupid? 

He clutched the other beret firmly in his left hand. He just had to hope that one would be enough. 

A few seconds later, the door opened. The lights were off and the den was pitch black besides a few lights from Gus's equipment. 

"That you, Gavin?" Michael asked the darkness.

Gavin made one of his signature annoying squawks.

"I will staple your fucking mouth shut."

"Aw, but Micool."

"Let's go."

Michael stood from the couch and made his way to the light of Gus's computer, then brushed past Gavin and opened the door.

"Why do you have your suit on Michael?" Gavin asked.

"I didn't have a change of clothes here. Besides, I don't have to worry about ripping this since it withstands my powers." Michael explained, stepping out into the hallway.

"Oooh." Gavin nodded, flashing into the darkness of the den and then back to the doorway. He was now in his suit as well.

"Right." Gav, smiled. 

Michael smiled too, but not physically.

The pair snuck off down the hallways and reached the elevator.

_**XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx** _

 Ryan picked up the barret and examined it. He thought Michael would know better than to be clumsy enough to drop it, but here it was in the middle of the corridor.

He pocketed it and jogged from the hallways down to his den. Had he actually beaten them here? He placed his palm to the door, which pricked him for matching blood, and stepped into the dark den room. 

At first glance, it appeared to Ryan as if no one had been there since the last match. After further examination he found the changing room open; two suits gone. 

That probably means they were on the 4th floor by now. Ryan quickly shed his night clothes and dawned his own green and black suit, dashing out of the den and down the hallway. 

He was almost to the elevator when two guards in armored suits rounded the corner and began down the hall.  

Ryan flicked a portal onto the wall and slammed through it, closing just enough to hide him and for him to see who these two women were.

"...really scary, how did you get through it?" One Guard asked.  

As the two moved closer, Ryan could see that neither of them wore helmets. One had short black hair and glasses, the other one was-

 "Honestly, I would have bled out if it wasn't for my Granger." Jenna answered, her tight braid swishing behind her as she walked.

"What about you, Link? I heard you and Rhett took out a whole battlefield," she smirked over at him.

 "C ranked teams are so easy, though! It was hardly even a challenge. " Link reajusted his glasses, the light from their flashlights glinted off it and momentarily blinded Ryan's view.

"Besides, we got chewed out by Burnie for that. He has to go find new people to play now so the games can last more than a week," Link chuckled. 

Ryan watched them closely as they passed, he noted that Jenna's arm was still gone, instead of it's fleshy normalcy, it was replaced by one of wires and metal. It seemed almost like she had torn it off a robot and attached it straight to her. He could still see tatters of pink and orange fur.

"That's probably why they pinned you to guard duty instead of roping in newbies," Jenna said as they turned the corner on the opposite end of the corridor. 

Ryan, panicked and slightly interested, slipped from inside the wall and bolted to the elevator. He had to get those two idiots out of here before they were found.

 

_**XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx** _

 

Michael casually sauntered between two guards as they patrolled the 4th floor tanks, fluffy tail swishing with every step.

"Uh, who let the cat in here?" One Guard questioned to the other.

"Doesn't look like one of the Boss's." The other one replied, reaching down and picking up the aubern fluff ball which was wearing a cat-sized game suit.

Michael let out a wicked hiss and swiped his sharpened class across the guards eyes, which caused him to shriek and drop the cat. 

Guard two went to kick the Kitty, but was interrupted when Gavin flashed behind the two of them and slammed their heads together, knocking them out instantly.

"We'll that was easy." Gavin remarked, pretending to dust off his hands.

"Of course it was, guards were stupid." Michael responded, his voice quivering as he transformed back to his human self.

"Now, what are we looking for?"

"Clem said there was a mermaid with golden eyes." Gavin walked to one side if the glass and squinted at it, barley making out the shimmers of tails in the dark water. 

"Are you sure?" Michael asked, walking up next to them and placing his finger on the plexiglass, tracing where the tails went on the glass.

"Golden eyes....Golden eyes." Gavin smooshed his face against the glass, squinting into the darkness.

"I believe it is I that you are perusing."

Two bright gold eyes opened in the darkness, inches from Gavin's mug. The Brit squawked in surprise and fell back onto his ass, looking into the glowing eyes.

"Hello, children." The two eyes flicker, sending out a pulse like beam of light that illuminated the mermaid's form.

Before them, suspended in in the dark tank, was the most beautiful woman the two had ever laid eyes on. 

She was niether dark or light, with no trace of race to set her origin. Tall and slender, with golden eyes beautifully crafted onto her soft, round face. Locks of hair in a unique brown-blond color cascaded around her in the water, long enough to brush around her perfect hips; a strand pleasantly caught between her supple breasts. Both boys blushed when they noticed she wore no chest piece like the other maids in her tank. Further down, her figure merged beautifully into her tail which was a dazzling black sheen with pure white fins frilling down to her two large ones on the end. 

Two mermaids flashed through the water behind the maiden before them. Michael caught their faces showing clear signs of respect and slight fear on thier faces. 

It was then Michael noticed the final difference between this woman and the other girls of the aquarium. 

The easiest way to explain it is that most mermaids were equal to the size of a dolphin or a tad larger. The maiden before them was easily the size of a Killer Whale. It was like she had just been scaled up in a computer.

 "May I ask you your names?" The mermaid's voice was just as beautiful as she was, soothing like a waterfall yet strong and firm like an oak. Although when she spoke her soft red lips did not move in the slightest.

 "I'm Gavin, and this is Michael." Gavin got to his feet, moving to stand beside Michael.

"A pleasure to make your aquiantance. I am known to many as the Lady of the Lake." She smiled.

"Like, from the story book? Right, and I'm the fucking queen of England. Nice try Lady." Michael rolled his eyes, unconvinced.

The golden eyed maiden looked down upon the aubern haired boy, slowly reaching behind herself with one long, slender arm. In a flash a sword appeared in her small hands and she aimed it betwixt Michael's eyes. 

"In my hundreds of years as guardian I have faced many non-believers, but never a child as rude as the one before me now." Her stare turned cold and the sword fazed through the glass and imbeded it's ice chilled, and very real, tip into the top layers of Michael's skin. A drip of blood began down his face.

"I'm sorry." Michael said quickly, but didn't move.

"Rejoice that I have not been granted my full strengh for if I had you would be skinned for my gauntlets." She sounded enraged, but her face stayed soft and emotionless.

 "Don't mind him, we need your help!" Gavin pressed his hands against the glass in awe, not even bothering to be worried about the sword to Michael's head.

"There was a strong force that guided me to you, indeed." The Lady slowly withdrew her sword from Michael's head. It fazed back through the glass without leaving a scratch.

"About that Ms....Lady?" Gavin furrowed his brows.

 "You may call me by the name given to me. Nona." 

"Ms.Nona, someone told us you could help us find a secret group within this compound called Spec." Gavin.

"S-pe-c." Nona sounded out the name, crossing her arms and (Much to the unexpected delight of the boys) pressed her breasts together. "I am not familiar with that name."

Gavin huffed, grabbing Cry's mask from his belt and holding it up to Nona.

"They told me to show you this mask, we have the barrets too!" Gavin glanced back, Michael unclipped the Barret from the neck of his suit and held it up for her to examine.

Nona pressed herself against the glass and squinted her golden eyes at the objects.

"Ah yes, those two were here not long ago. Do you also wish to go to the beaches?" She asked.

"Wait, you saw them?!" Michael exclaimed, taking a step towards the glass. His heart began rapidly beating in his chest. There was no way. They were dead, gone, just like Ray.

"But they're d-" Gavin started, Michael smashed his hand over the Brit's mouth.

"Take us there. Please." Michael said pleasingly, pressing a palm against the glass. 

"As you wish." Nona stretched her hands out and once more phased them through the 4 inch plexiglass with ease. 

Michael tried not to freak out as he realized Nona was much bigger than he had thought, one slender and pale hand wrapping entirely around his bisep and lurching him forward with Gavin. 

Gavin made a short squawk as he and Michael were transported through the glass and struck by the artic water that consumed them. Both boys convulsed in the water, core tempatrures treating to decrease.

Nona pulled the to boy's towards her and wrapped each hand around one of theirs. She raised her tail and swiped it, taking off in one swift motion with the two den mates clinging to her hands. They evaded large rock formations and skimmed over other tails as they went. They were guided to a small hole in the encloser, hiding by fauna. Nona leveled out parallel with the hole and was about to plug through it when a smaller mermaid rocketed out and, unable to slow herself, smashed her entirety into Nona's midsection with an unusual, almost alien sound. Wich pushed her back with a grunt and caused her hands to release the two players.

"You need to watch yourself, young lady, we are many and this tank is ment for few." Nona spoke calmly, lips not moving.

The smaller mermaid flashed a few hand signals, probably to apologize, and quickly swam off.

Gavin could just barely make out the maiden's features when she passed him. She was trying in vain to push the locks of brown, shoulder length hair out of her face, her crimson tail floundering a bit as she swam. He squinted to try and see more detail as she sped off in the direction they had come from and felt the push of water behind him, catching his side and swinging him around just in time to see Nona's white fins disappear into the tunnel without him.

 

_**XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx** _

 

Ryan jogged along the glass in the aquarium hall. He had spotted the guards, still unconscious, and he knew he was hot on the two idiot's trail. 

 He took the Barret out of his pocket and looked around. Waiting for something to happen. 

"Are you looking for Spec?"

Ryan spun on his heels and looked at the glass. 

A mermaid was looking at him, brown eyes dialatting on him behind the mess of floating brown curls. As he looked the creature up and down, he noticed that it was actually a boy. With a flat, toned chest and slight stubble on his face. 

"Are you the mer...person, I was supposed to give this to?"  Ryan asked, holding up the butterfly barret to the boy. 

He blinked slowly, his deep brown eyes draining of color and paling to a pearlescent gold. 

"Yes, I am."

 

_**XxXxXxX68INDESTRIESXxXxXx** _

 

Michael resurfaced in a small pond in the middle of a heavily wooded Jungle. The cold hand around his scarred wrist slipped away and the powerful finned tail smashed him against the shore as she prepelled away. 

He hooked his feet under the roots and pulled himself onto the grass, exhaling a shakey breath. He got to his feet and tried his best to wring the excess freezing water from his suit, he thought of a certain boy's warmth and grew colder. 

Michael looked around, there was no sign of Gavin anywhere. "Gavin? Gavin where-"

Michael could hear faint sounds of voices and music directly in front of him, accompanied by streaks of light that blinked at him from behind the huge leaves on the trees. Glancing around, this place became more and more familiar to the boy. The trees, the dry grass that crunched against his feet as he padded along towards the sound; everything. Then Michael stopped, a strange sound came from beneath him which didn't sound like grass at all. Michael dropped down to a crouch and lifted his left foot, grabbing the pieces of the shattered item and bringing them close to his face to try and see them in the darkness. 

He brushed his fingers over the smooth surface and took in the still sharp sandy scent. Michael's pupils dilated and his head snapped up to the cliff that was now elumanated by a ball of fire that exploded over it. Ray's choking face flashed over the shape shifter's eyes and he bolted towards the voices, suddenly, desperately in need of another voice.

He grabbed the two big leaves in his way and tore them apart, nearly crashing his face into another flame. The fire recoiled and in it's place was a face. A man, hair in puffed spikes, stumbled back with a small scream. Michael was about to open in his mouth to calm him when another burst of fire shot passed him.

Barely dodging it, Michael growled and glanced back down at the spot where the other man was laying, which was now gone. Michael took a step forward in confusion when a hand shot up from the earth and pulled his foot into the ground, then his leg.

Michael fell, clawing desperately on the ground as he was dragged down into the earth. Falling into pitch blackness, the only thing he could do was swing wildly at the invisible appendages of the attacker. 

"Who are y-willyou-stop-stop-STOP!" A light flickered between them, a flame dawned on the hand of the man who had pulled Michael under. Michael moved to punch him, the man held up his hand and with one swift flick cuffed Michael's other appendages to the walls with stone.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" The man asked, holding the flame closer to his face.

Michael winced, but just barely.

"Right pocket." The auburn haired boy said simply.

The other boy, slowly and cautiously, reached down and dug into Michael's pocket. He pulled out the small Butterfly barret and looked at it, visibly wincing.

"This is Clem's. Did she give it to you?" The man asked softly.

"Yes." Michael replied.

There was sounds coming from above them now, like someone was stomping down on the small cavern and trying to break through.

The captor gasped in panic and shoved the barret into his pocket, flicking his shoulder back and creating a small hole that swirled into the rock ceiling, which was just big enough for an older man to drop in. 

"Miles, no one is going to set fire to you while you pee again, you don't have to bury yourself-who's that?" The man pointed towards Michael.

"He came here to find spec, Minx gave him her necklace," Miles lied, releasing Michael from his shackles.

Michael got to his feet slowly, eyeing them both. 

"Well, it's a hell of a time to show up. Name's Brian. Ninja Brian, as they call me." The older man stepped forward, blue eyes seemingly pinning him to the wall as he extended his hand.

"Michael Jones," The auburn haired boy said. He grabbed the man's hand and shook it firmly. 

Suddenly there was a sharp pain in his mind and Michael grunted, his other hand coming up to cup his head.

Brian's face contorted for a moment, eyes not leaving Michael's. "What did I tell you about lying to me, kid?"

Miles rubbed the back of his neck, looking down. "I didn't want to put more stress on you."

"If she brought them here, it's obvious she knew they were good." Brian released Michael's hand, and the pain stopped.

"Hand it over." Brian turned and held his hand out to Miles, who relectently gave it over. The older male twirled the barret in his fingers, watching the light flicker off of it. 

"Uh. Hey." Miles said awkwardly to Michael, who just srated at him.

"Sorry for, ya know, almost killing you with fire." Miles rubbed the back of his neck. "We're all a little on edge here."

"I get it." Michael said lowly. "I lost someone today, too."

"I'm real sorry to hear that." Miles looked away.

"Speaking of which, where's the other one?" Brain interjected, sliding the barret into his pocket.

"I lost it." Michael said.

"I know about the barret, I mean the other kid you were with." Brian looked over at him.

"What other kid?" Michael asked falsely.

"Sandy blonde hair, spiky, green-ish eyes." Brian raised an eyebrow at him. "Come on, don't act like you've never seen a sifter before. You can't lie to me."

"A what?" Michael stared blankly.

"A sifter. They have the power to look through and take other people's memories. They really can't do much else, though, so that's why they have their own class instead of being grouped into the Psychic class," Miles explained, stomping his right foot and opening up the stone ceiling and lifting them back to ground level with both hands.

"Kinda why I became friends with him. I'm an elemental, but I don't fit into a subclass. Ya know, water benders, earth benders, fire, electricity, air, metal? I can do all of them, well, really just the basic elements, I haven't worked on electricity or metal or any of that. I think there's like, 2 other people here that can do that. Anyway, they gave us a broader class but it's weird because obviously there's only 3 of us, and like, 30 sub class elementals. It's kinda cool at the same time though because-"

"Miles," Brian said. 

"Oh, sorry, was a rambling again? When I came here they wouldn't let me take my ADHD meds anymore. Apparently they don't want people in these games taking anything that the doctors in the infirmary don't give them." Miles replied, turning to face Michael.

"I'm Miles, by the way, Miles Luna." He smiled.

 "Michael." Michael restated.

"We really should be getting back, Monty won't start without us." Brain reminded them, walking towards the light beyond a few trees. 

 "Come on, I'm sure no one will mind." Miles smiled at him, placing a soft hand on Michael's back and ushering him forward. 

Michael didn't make it one step before Gavin smashed face first into his back, sandwiching Miles' hands between them and pulling him to the ground along with the pair.

"Let go of Michael!" Gavin whailed, limbs flying at Miles, who could do little to avoid them with his hand pinned.

"Gavin, get off!" Michael growled. Porcupine spines shot up from his back and embedded themselves into Gavin's back and Miles' had. Both boys yelled curse words and removed themselves from Michael.

"Shapeshifter, that's cool." Miles tried to smile as he shook the quills from his hand. 

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow." Gavin mumbled ass he pulled a few stray quills from his rump. 

"Hey Gavin." Brian said, pulling Michael up by his suit.

"Hi - who are you?" Gavin asked.

"I'm Brian, that's Miles. Can we get back now?"

"Back where??" Gavin questioned.

"Show them the mask, Gavin." Michael ordered.

There was a few seconds of silence, then Gavin slowly took Cry's mask from his belt and held it up to the pair.

"So, that's where Cry has been." Miles said darkly.

"We probably couldn't find him because the body was already turned over to Cinder." Brian rubbed his eyes.

"We'll add his name to the list. Now let's GO." He turned and began to move through the thick brush.

"Alright." Michael nodded, following him.

The group slowly made their way through the trees and shrubs, crunching leaves under their boots as they walked. Eventually Brian walked through a wall of leaves and dissapeared from Michael's view.

"We have some company, they're friends." Brian announced as Michael and Gavin walked through the leaves and into the beach clearing.

Michael's eyes locked onto where the beach met the water, fists clenching with knuckles a white coloration.

In the water, working on coffins with pants rolled up and force fields nailing tops down to secure the bodies, was the green haired man who's body he had seen Ryan drag out of the safe room. 

"You! I saw you, I saw you DEAD!" Michael hissed loudly, taking a step forward. He couldn't be alive, he had Ray's dagger buried in his chest. Ray had, Ray...

Michael's heart hammered with emotion, the sound of blood rushing through his ears had blocked out all other noise.

He was fresh with new loss, regret, sadness, anger. 

These all made him that much more dangerous

Jack's head shot up and he met Michael's gaze. His pupils blown out with fear, he slowly backed further into the water. "Y-you were with Achie-"

"Michael, no!" Gavin screeched and reached out for his teammate, but his hand grabbed thin air.

 

 

Michael, with fangs out and claws extended, had already lunged for Jack. 

Jack screamed, diving into the water in hopes of finding some sort of safety.

Michael dived in after him, catching up almost instantly.

Jack turned around just in time to see Michael bite down with all of his mite.

 

A bone crunched and shattered.

 

Blood.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments appreciated!  
> Thanks!


End file.
